Split in Two
by gamsheid
Summary: Not always wanting a stiff member around Hinata, a sensei tells him to calm himself by thinking of the one he likes. “Think of Sakura-chan, think of Sakura-chan and not Hinata’s bottom, THINK OF SAKURA-CHAN!” Naruto thought. “... Sweet, it’s gone!"
1. Deadly New Jutsu

Sorry to all those who enjoyed reading Jiraiya's interference, I have discontinued the story because well... it was flawed in the fact that it was heading down a dark path, and I did things a little too early. Also I started it so far behind and it just felt like forever to just try and reach the point where they graduate to genin. These seemed to reflect in the number of my reviews when compared to other stories T.T (plus I got distracted by WoW... .)

Well not with this story! This one I can keep it slightly clean until after the time skip. If I really can't control myself and have to write something that involves masturbation or above... I'll write it in a one-shot for the more perverted of us to enjoy, while still keeping this clean for the other readers. Oh, and it starts off when they graduate too =D

Now then, please enjoy my new story. *prays to god for a crap load of reviews"

Genres: Romance, Humour, Adventure, Action, Drama, Ecchi, and some other stuff...

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but neither does Naruto it seems, what with all the emphasis on Sasuke lately in the manga... for god sakes, they need to make a filler just to give him some extra screen time to Naruto -tebayo O.O

* * *

[Story begins]

Letting out a sigh, a hyperactive kid was not so hyperactive today as he sat quietly behind the desk even though it was the day after graduation.

"Hey what are you doing here Naruto? Only people who graduated are supposed to be here." A pineapple haired boy lazily asked as he passed by the blonde.

Naruto just slouched over deeper into his arms that were crossed on the desk, and unexcitedly tapped his forehead which now adorned his brand new hatai-ate.

"_He passed? But I could have sworn he didn't yesterday... and why is he acting all depressed today, he's never like this in class..."_ Only one thought followed up in the Nara's mind. _"Troublesome."_

One shy girl in the corner of the class thought she knew why though, and looked on at the boy she admired in concern. _"Oh Naruto-kun... he's still worried about last night..."_

* * *

[Flashback to yesterday night]

A tear stricken girl was running through the forest of Konoha because she knew that she couldn't stay inside of the village if she wanted to be out of view of _those _eyes. _"I-I can't believe he said those things to Kurenai-san... I knew he thought I was too weak for the clan, but I didn't..." _The girl thought as the salty liquids came back in full force out of her pale lavender eyes.

This was not how she planned today would be like. She had just graduated from the academy... she thought today was the day that her father might be proud of her. However, when her soon to be sensei Yuhi Kurenai came to the compound and requested an audience with her father, the harsh words that she overheard coming out of his mouth was not what she expected.

The pain she felt from each word her father spoke about her as if it left a bad taste on his tongue was too much to bear. She couldn't stand there anymore and take it, so she fled for just tonight, at least tonight. Now she was in the forest, not even registering that she somehow was able to slip by the all seeing eyes of the Hyuuga even though she was considered 'weak' by their supposed standerds.

Her legs didn't stop moving until the one thing that always seemed to cheer her up surprisingly came into sight. _"N-N-Naruto-kun!?"_ Instantly, she hid behind a large bush before he noticed her. _"Wh-what's he doing here?"_

Said boy looked rather ragged as he sat in front of a large scroll and read its contents. _"He looks like he was training... but why is he out so late?"_

"Oh this one looks good. Ka-... Katsu Hak-... **Katsu Hakke Bunshin? (Split 8 Trigram Clone)**" Naruto read out, and then scratched his head as he mulled it over. _"Well I already learned one bunshin from this scroll; it wouldn't hurt to learn another just in case the first one isn't good enough to let me pass."_

Deciding to at least try it, he began to slowly go through the hand-signs, memorizing the order as best he could so he wouldn't slip up when he really tried it.

The girl looked on; watching him train always seemed to put her at ease. Plus the frustrated face he made when his fingers jumbled up together made her giggle. _"His face is so cute..." _She absentmindedly thought before she caught herself. _"Eh? C-c-c-c-cute!? Why did I just think Naruto-kun was c-cute!?"_

Yes, that's right, until just recently this shy little bluenette has been catching herself over and over with these kinds of thoughts for the one she thought she just admired. She had no idea where the thought had come from, or why it started, but it always seemed to have the same effect whenever she noticed.

First her face would heat up, second was averting her eyes from the cause of the heat, third was continuous self loathing on why Naruto-kun wouldn't appreciate such thoughts coming from her until she calmed down, and lastly, directing her eyes back to the source of it all until it repeats again.

Right now... she was on stage three.

"_Oh god. Why did I just think that? He wouldn't want to be thought of as c-cute, especially from someone like me. Boys want to be thought of as cool or strong, not c-cute..."_

She wasn't able to finish it though as a tormented cry came out from Naruto.

"AAAAAAAGH!" The blonde shouted as he cradled his stomach and laid in the fetal position.

Pale eyes widened at the sight, and her little feet instantly rushed over to his side without a moment's thought. "N-Naruto-kun! What's wrong!?" She didn't know what to do. He wasn't responding to her, and her mind was racing through a million thoughts at once.

Her body acted on it's on as it sat down, placed the boys head on its lap, and kept one hand on his head, while the other rested on his hands cradling his abdomen. _"I-I have to do something to help him!" _She thought as tears streamed down her eyes from the pain he was feeling.

She didn't have to though, because as soon her body made contact with his, Naruto's cries seemed to die down significantly when his hand grabbed a small soft tender one for strength. His teeth clenched shut, and within minutes the seething pain was down so much that Naruto was now taking deep breaths to gain control of himself.

"N-Naruto-kun?" The worried girl asked in a soft voice as she looked down at him with hope in her eyes that his condition was better, not even noticing that her hand was squeezing back.

The blonde barely registered his name, but soon closed eyes opened back up to the world with blurry vision. As his eyes adjusted he looked towards the source of the sound. "Ugh... who?... Hinata?"

Her normal thinking process seemed to kick back in at the sound of her name, and for the first time she became aware of how close she actually was to those blue orbs. "H-H-H-Hai. A-a-are you o-o-ok N-N-Na-N-Naru-..."

"Argh, that stupid scroll didn't say anything about it going to hurt. Did I do something wrong? Hmm, where's that scro-" Naruto's interruption was cut off when he reached out for the forbidden scroll, but then felt something hold him back. His eyes searched for the thing that anchored him down, and when he found it, he just scratched his head and gave a toothy grin. "Neh Hinata-san... You think you can let go of my hand?"

Confused pools of lavender looked down at where the two connected, and her already pink cheeks flushed as dark as a lady bugs wings. "Eep!" Hinata screamed as she let go, turned around, and began poking her index fingers together. "G-G-G-G-Gomen. H-H-Hontou ni gomen ne N-Naruto-kun."

"It's alright –ttebayo. Anyways, what are you doing he-" That's when a thought went through his head. _"Shit I'm in the middle of a test right now! What if they see Hinata and think she helped me, or forget that, I wasn't supposed to be seen in the first place until the end of this test! Crap I don't want to fail!"_

"Ano Hinata-san, can you do me a favour?" Naruto asked not thinking she would agree to help the dead last, but when he saw her shy head nod; a true smile came on his face. "Can you get away from here for a little while, or at least hide yourself? I'm in the middle of a test, and I wasn't supposed to be seen."

"A-A test?" Hinata questioned since she never heard of a test like this before.

"Yeah, it's like a make-up exam to pass the genin test. So can you just hide in the cabin over there?"

"O-Ok" A part of her didn't believe that this was true as she took a glimpse of the large scroll on the ground, but if it gave Naruto a chance to pass with the rest of the class (and hopefully be on her team), she would help out anyway she could.

"Thanks a lot Hinata." Naruto said with gratitude dropping the 'san' at the end.

"_She's really dark and quiet. Plus she's actually helping me instead of messing everything up like someone else would... she's really weird." _Naruto mentally complimented with a small smile on his face. To most this would be a strange compliment, but anyone who acts out of the normal way of socializing with the _demon brat_ of Konoha was considered weird to him... but he liked that.

He was about to contemplate on why she was here after she retreated into the shack, but was taken out of his musings when he heard a set of feet land behind him.

"Naruto what do you think you're do-"

"Hey Iruka-sensei, what took you so long? I was waiting here bored out of my mind that I tried learning another jutsu." Naruto interjected with an excited look on his face. "So are you grading my test? Can I show you the jutsu now? It's really cool... well to me at least."

"Test? Jutsu?" Iruka inquired not knowing what the boy was talking about. He looked at Naruto up and down to take in his current condition. _"Has he been training this whole time? How could he learn a jutsu in this amount of time, let alone two? I know it took me longer to get here than I expected, but it still shouldn't be possible for him to learn a jutsu from the forbidden scroll."_

Yes that's right, it took Iruka a bit longer to find Naruto because a second search for another one of his students had started as well. There were more ninja out, and he had to be extra careful that no one followed him in his search for the boy.

"Didn't Mizuki-sensei tell you? I'm taking the special test to become a genin." Naruto happily informed.

"_Mizuki put him up to this? Why would..." _Iruka didn't have time to think about it as he felt a wave of killing intent directed at Naruto. It was so small that he was lucky that he was close to the boy to even feel the held back malice. Without a second thought, he pushed Naruto away with his hand before thinking of himself. "Naruto get down!"

Iruka turned around to find the source of the hostility when kunai came speeding out from the foliage of the forest in the man's direction. The academy teacher was only able to bring his arms up and his head down to protect his vitals, and take the onslaught.

When Iruka's body slid all the way to the shack from the force, Hinata covered her mouth to stifle the scream of shock that came out so that she wouldn't be found out. Her body was now shaking, and she huddled herself in the corner out of fear.

With her body in a petrified state, the girl closed her senses to the real world as broken memories of her kidnapping when she was 3 resurfaced. _"NO! Oka-san! Oka-san, save me!" _She mentally cried out repeatedly for what felt like forever.

"_Anybody, please save me! Naruto-k-"_

When her thoughts fell onto the blonde knucklehead, she seemed to break out of the nightmare, and move into a fit of worry. _"Naruto-kun! He's still outside! What happened to him!?" _Wanting to get the answer as soon as possible, she relied on her family's doujutsu and activated her eyes. It didn't take long for her eyes to find him. _"There's two people in henge running right behind him. I... I have to help him!"_

With slightly unsteady determination, Hinata got up on shaking legs and left the cabin to catch up to Naruto.

* * *

[A little time later with Naruto]

"Don't touch Iruka-sensei! I'll kill you!" Naruto proclaimed after kneeing the man hard in the face.

"Baka, why did you come out!? Run away!" Iruka commanded out of concern. In his mind an academy student couldn't defeat a chunin.

Mizuki just chuckled after he got back up. "Hehe, that surprised me you little demon brat, but it won't happen again cause I'll kill you in one shot!"

"Give it a try you piece of trash, I'll return the pain a thousand times over." Naruto said as he placed his hands into a cross shaped seal.

"Go ahead and try Kyubi br-" Mizuki tried provoking until he saw a thousand short orange clad ninjas surrounding him.

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

"Wh-what's going on!?"

"Neh, didn't you say something about killing me in one shot? What's wrong now Mizuki-_sensei_!?" Naruto mocked before pulling up his sleeves. "Well then, if you're not going to do anything, then I'll start!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Mizuki screamed in horror and pain as Naruto pounded him into the ground.

"_He really did split up into more than a thousand... and in less than one day's time..." _Iruka thought in astonishment before a smile crept onto his face. "Hey Naruto come over here... I want to give you something."

Naruto walked over away from Mizuki's limp twitching body, and sat down in front of his sensei. He was told to close his eyes, and when he did, he felt his goggles being removed and replaced with something else. Iruka told him that he could open up his eyes now, and with a large smile, the man said what he had wanted to say to the boy all day. "Congratulations Naruto, you pass. Let's celebrate! I'll buy you a-"

Iruka was cut short by a dark chuckle coming from behind Naruto. "Pass? Him? That little demon spawn? There's no way anyone could see him as a ninja!" Mizuki shouted at the end as he started to slowly get up, but as he did a dark purple helix of chakra was spinning around his body. The pressure it caused in the air was intense, not to mention the killing intent that came along with it. The man was now deeply panting, and letting out grunts of pain as his body started to change colour and grow at least one size bigger than what he was. Within seconds Mizuki went from a human, to a bestialise look of a tiger.

"Mizuki, what did you do to yourself!?" Iruka questioned in horror.

"Oh you like it? It's a gift from Orochimaru-sama. I didn't think I would have to use this, but I guess it takes the power of a demon to kill a demon." Mizuki stated, and made a dash for Naruto.

The blonde was petrified in his place; the aura this... beast was giving off was so thick it was hard for him to breath. He couldn't even dodge as he saw Mizuki coming over with a backhanded fist ready to smash him across the face. However his view was cut off by the same sight as before.

"Naruto run!" Iruka commanded as he tried shielding the boy. Unfortunately it didn't do much because as soon as Iruka took the hit, his body was sent flying a couple dozen feet before he was stopped by a tree. The transformation apparently augmented Mizuki's strength.

That seemed to snap Naruto out of his state. His legs were still shaking from fear, but at least now he held an angry look on his face. "Don't hurt Iruka-sensei! **Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" He wasn't able to put as much chakra into this as he did before, but at least he was able to make around 50 clones.

"Heh." Mizuki smiled with contempt at the _demon brat_'s futile attempt. One by one the clones were kick, pushed, slashed, pierced or bitten by the tiger man as if they were nothing. "You caught me by surprise the last time, but this time it won't be so easy!"

With that, Mizuki grabbed Naruto by the collar of his jacket with one hand, and lifted him off the ground until he was head level with himself. The other hand was cocked back with his finger tips pointing forward ready to pierce. "It's time for you to die demon!" Mizuki's hand shot forward towards the village pariah's heart, and just as the tip of the nail was deep enough to pierce skin, it stopped. Shock was the only emotion on Mizuki's face as he started to cough up blood from his mouth.

"Let go of Naruto-kun!" Hinata ordered as both her hands where on Mizuki's back right behind his lungs. She didn't give him time to respond, and lowered her hands to both his kidneys and sent another burst of chakra out of her hands.

The hand holding Naruto involuntarily let go of him as Mizuki coughed up even more blood. His body then lurched forward to expel the contents of his stomach which was dyed red from the internal bleeding. This sudden movement caused Hinata to jump back away, but she kept up her guard just to be safe.

Naruto was looking at Hinata, from his place on the floor after he was dropped, in incomprehension. _"Hinata she... saved me?"_

"Argh you little whore! You'll pay for that!" Mizuki swore as he staggered towards the Hyuuga.

Not having felt the killing intent directed at her before, Hinata's body could only shake unconsciously while she was screaming in her mind to move. _"Get away! Please, somebody get him away! Naruto-kun!"_

The black in his blue eyes dilated in fear. Not for himself, but for the girl that saved him as he saw Mizuki walk slowly but ever closer to her. _"I can't do anything... she saved me, but I can't save her... why am I so useless! Why am I so POWERLESS!"_

A small quiet suggestion, from he didn't know where, entered his mind. _"Use it..." _With it came the memory of what he learned from the forbidden scroll. He barely gave it a second thought; his hands started forming the seals as he stood up and gathered the chakra necessary for it. **"Katsu Hakke Bunshin!"**

A large cloud of smoke encircled both Naruto and Mizuki, temporarily blinding the latter man with it.

"Man, I haven't been out in ages!" The sound of a preteen female said as she stretched. "Cheh... what a weak body."

The smoke cleared and where there were once just two bodies, now stood three. The new individual seemed to look the same age as the other two children in the area, but slightly taller than Naruto. Her raven black hair was long, going past her knees, but looked well kept and together like silk. She seemed to be wearing a blue and black battle kimono that was a bit too big near the top as it exposed her shoulders, but at the same time was cut just above her knees. Underneath though, she was wearing a mesh shirt in the style of a one piece swimsuit that went all the way to her neck, but left her shoulders and arms bare, while her legs were fully covered. The sleeves were long enough to go a little bit past her hands, but had a large opening, making it look like it hung from her arms. Lastly if it wasn't for the bandages that covered her chest over the mesh, one would have been able to see such an area because of how loosely the kimono was tied up, most likely to not hinder movement.

Naruto didn't know what was going on as he looked on in surprise, and just said the first thing that came to his mind. "Wh-who are y-"

"What kind of trick is this now you demon? Is this supposed to scare me? It's just one of your stupid clones in that slut jutsu of yours. You can't affect me with the original version let alone this pathetic attempt of one!" Mizuki shouted in a rasped voice.

One of the girl's onyx eyes seemed to twitch at that. "I don't want to hear that from a man whose father dry humped a disease ridden pussy cat while she was in heat. Must have been pretty hard for her to squeeze out that ugly mug of yours." The girl retorted giving off her own amount of killing intent that overwhelmed Mizuki's.

The man backed up from the force a little bit but stood his ground. "You think I'm scared of a little slut like you! I'll kill you!" Mizuki proclaimed, and with renewed vigour he ran at the girl while forming hand-seals and when he was done, his speed increased tenfold as he disappeared just 1 second before impact.

"Hn, seems like the pussy cat has some claws." The girl said in a mocking tone as she was soon surrounded by afterimages of Mizuki who was running around her in every odd direction so that she couldn't pinpoint his location. Soon Mizuki raced towards her diagonally to her front, and kept it up from other directions but always coming at her from the front. Each time she dodged though, backing up a little bit as she did until her back was against a tree.

"Not so confident anymore now are we?" The afterimages of Mizuki asked with a grin, but were soon short lived.

"Hoo, the pussy cat is all happy because it can do a couple of tricks. Can you also sit, or maybe... play dead!?" Just then she elbowed the tree behind her just above her waist. The afterimages of the traitor soon disappeared, and the tree that was behind her wavered until it revealed the actual Mizuki who was now leaning forward with both hands covering his damaged manhood.

Without giving him time to recuperate, the girl reached back over head and grabbed the man's vest with both hands before she lifted him up, and slammed him down to the ground in front of her. Mizuki coughed up more blood before looking up at his assailant from his spot on the dirt floor. "H-how'd you know it was a genjutsu?"

"Take a wild guess." The girl said looking into his eyes.

Mizuki's own widened when he saw the red eyes with two tomoes around each pupil. _"Sharingan!" _A slit then formed in the eyes, and with his last ounce of strength he asked her one last question. "Who... *cough*... are you?"

"Your worst nightmare." The girl whispered as her features became more feral before she plunged her now elongated nails into his chest. As the life left Mizuki's face, his body changed back to that of a human, but now significantly beyond the years that it should have been. When she removed her hand from his chest, she licked a bit of blood before spitting it out. "Cheh, I guess such nasty blood was to be expected from a pathetic man."

"_I... I made this? What is this thing!?" _Naruto frightfully thought as the girl stood over the dead body before she snapped her head in his direction. "What the hell are you!!?"

"Oh I think you know warden..." The girl said as she confidently walked her way over to the shaking jinchuriki. "I'm you, and nothing like you. I'm a part of you, but not made of you. I'm the same as you, but completely different."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Naruto asked in a panic as his heart was racing with each step she took towards him.

"Heh, you really are stupid aren't you. I'm the reason people hate you, why everyone avoids you, why no one can love you." The girl stated as she grabbed the boy by the throat and lifted him off the ground with one hand.

"K-kyubi." Naruto chocked in a whisper that only the girl could here as he looked into her eyes.

"That's right, and I want out!" Kyubi said as she squeezed a little harder on the boy's neck. "Hehe, to think you look just like the bastard that did this to me. I would have loved to see him suffer, just to get that stupid smile off his face and out of my head."

"L-let go of Naruto-kun!!" Hinata shouted.

Kyubi looked irritated from somebody ordering her around, but when she looked over her shoulder to glare at the source, a smirk appeared on her face before it turned to a grin. "Hooo, this is rare. We have ourselves a little Hyuuga here."

"D-don't hurt h-her." Naruto protested, but couldn't do much about it in his position.

Kyubi just looked back at his cerulean eyes, and saw the fear and concern evident on his face. "It looks like I might get my wish after all." Kyubi said in a malicious voice. "I hope you enjoy the show."

With that, Naruto was released to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and Kyubi sauntered over to Hinata as she licked her lips.

Hinata's mind was in a state of alarm, she got what she wanted, but she didn't think things through. _"What do I do!?" _Her doujutsu was still activated from the time she had attacked Mizuki, and she could see the strange dark red chakra flowing through the girl which sent a chill down her spine.

"_Stay away from her!" _Naruto thought in his mind as he staggered to get up.

When Kyubi got close enough though, Hinata's mind went blank, and as if on autopilot, she struck forward with a right hand palm attack. However it was pointless, Kyubi just grabbed her sweater around the elbow of the arm that was attacking, pulled on it for the heiress to miss, and then punched the girl in the gut with the other hand.

"_Leave her alone!" _The blonde mentally shouted as he fully stood up while panting heavily.

The pain had caused Hinata to lose some strength in her limbs, which Kyubi took advantage as she put a hand under the shy girl's chin and raised her head before she licked the side of her face. "Oh I'm going to enjoy this." Kyubi said in a seductive yet terrifying voice.

"_Stop!" _Naruto barked in his head as his anger started to build up from seeing the discomforted look on Hinata's face.

In a swift motion Kyubi placed a leg behind the heiress and then tripped her to the ground on her back. She straddled the girl's waist, and continued to slowly lick Hinata down her jaw line, towards her neck, and then moisten around her jugular. The bluenette tried to resist as tears began spilling out her eyes, but the Kyubi just grabbed both her wrist tightly over her head. When she was done licking, the Kyubi brought her head up as she looked down at the spot and just bared her fangs as she said one thing in almost a whisper. "Itadakimasu."

"STOP IT!!!" Naruto roared as red chakra burst out of him in a spiral.

Kyubi felt the tug at her chakra before she could sink her teeth into the innocent girl's neck. She looked back over her shoulder, at the now animalistic blonde, and frowned before she got up off of Hinata. "You dare try and use my power? I may not be able to use all of my chakra in this body because it is equal to yours, but I can still control a lot more of it than you can." Kyubi said with a smirk as she walked away from the limp girl's body, and increased the amount of red chakra flowing through her. "So why don't you just give up now, and let me enjoy my meal."

Naruto just growled at Kyubi, not even caring about the overpowering KI she was letting out, and just put up his fist as his legs got into a ready stance. "Hn, really? You want to fight that bad? You really are stupid. I can see every move you make; it's pointless to fight against m-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as her world seemed to slow down. Naruto's back leg had chakra explode out of all 58 tenketsu, which shot him forward to Kyubi at speeds, that if she didn't have the sharingan, she wouldn't have been able to see. When Naruto was just in front of Kyubi, his other leg did the same thing but aimed at the ground below him to act as a break. The single stomp to the earth sounded like lightning splitting rock, and the resulting force that shot up his leg went through his body and into his right arm as it too released chakra from all 53 points to thrust his fist into Kyubi's face.

The demon couldn't even dodge, all it could do was watch as the fist made contact, and her body went flying through the forest until she hit one large tree and shatter its trunk. Kyubi's body lay out cold at the remains before all her chakra left her body and she puffed into smoke.

Naruto didn't know what happened, his body just acted on its own, and when the Kyubi's chakra left him, he started to feel the repercussions. "AAHHHHHHH!!" Naruto screamed before his eyes rolled up and he dropped forward unconscious like dead weight.

"Naruto-kun!!" Hinata called out as she got up and ran towards him. She was going to reach down and touch him until she saw the damage done to his body with her Byakugan. _"His legs and his right arm are broken. All his muscles are shredded there too. If I touch him I might hurt him, I don't know what to do!"_

She didn't have to though, as the Sandaime appeared in the clearing with a couple of medics. _"Hokage-sama."_ Hinata thought with relief before she too passed out.

* * *

[In the Konoha Hospital an hour after the incident]

Drowsy eyes opened up to a view they weren't familiar with.

"Hello Hinata." Sarutobi greeted the child sitting in the hospital bed. "How are you feeling?"

"A l-lot better n-now, b-but why am I-..." Hinata replied as she cutely rubbed her eyes with both her fist until the memories came back to her and her eyes shot open. "Where's Naruto-kun!?"

Sarutobi chuckled at the concern the heiress had for the village outcast, it made him smile happily thinking about it. "He's in surgery now, and will be asleep for some time, but the doctors say he'll be fine." The Hokage answered with a reassuring smile on his face. Hinata blushed at her outburst, but nodded her head. "Now just so you know, your father is outside waiting to come see you, but before that I need to ask you what happened."

"H-hai Hokage-sama." Hinata answered before she went through everything she remembered. The Hokage patiently listened, and was glad to hear a more detailed report because of what the girl had seen with her bloodline. With a few questions here and there, and a look of surprise from hearing about the sharingan, the leader of the village had a better picture of what went on. He had stopped looking at his crystal ball after Mizuki transformed and rushed off towards Naruto, so he didn't know what happened afterwards.

"_So he learned that jutsu... I was hoping for him to learn it when he would be strong enough to handle it, but it looks like this may be a little bit of a problem... I'll have to keep this information from spreading as much as possible." _The Hokage contemplated, before he looked at Hinata's worried face in sympathy. _"And it seems she doesn't know about the Kyubi being inside Naruto... that's good, it'll make things easier I guess."_

"Hinata I need to ask you a favour." Sarutobi stated

"Y-yes?"

"Can you keep this information between us and Naruto... if people knew what went on I believe they might try something to hurt him."

"_Hurt him!?" _Hinata's eyes widened in shock, and then she vigorously nodded her head. "O-of course H-Hokage-sama. B-but what do I t-tell people when th-they ask... I can't lie to my f-f-father."

"Not saying anything would be best, but if they force you, just tell them a half-truth. Say that Naruto defeated Mizuki who turned traitor."

"O-ok." Hinata said, more determined to not say anything to anyone. _"It's best for Naruto-kun that way."_

"Thank you Hinata. Now then I'll leave you to your father." The Hokage said gratefully before he made to get up.

"A-ano... when c-can I leave th-the hospital Hokage-sama?" Hinata asked as she grabbed fist full of blanket in both hands.

"You're technically fine, but the doctors want to keep you in overnight just in case."

"Th-th-then I w-was w-w-wondering if y-you could do m-me a f-f-favour..." A deep red blush formed on Hinata's face which piqued the old man's interest. "C-could I b-b-be in th-the s-s-s-same r-room as N-Naruto-kun?..."

The Sandaime laughed once more at her innocence. "I don't see why not, Naruto could use a friend at his side right now. But won't your father disapprove of you sharing a room with a boy?"

"Th-that's the f-f-favour." Hinata whispered as she quickly brought the blanket up past her nose to hide her embarrassment.

"I'll see what I can do Hyuuga-sama." The Hokage jested using the '-sama' before he left the room with a confident smirk.

* * *

[Hokage office]

Sarutobi Hiruzen was looking over the list of fresh genin, and making changes to the teams now that there was a new genin to be added. _"It looks like I can't put him on another team than the Uchiha without showing favouritism to Naruto or Sasuke... well at least Kakashi will be Naruto's sensei, so if anything does go wrong with Naruto, he'll be able to handle it." _The Sandaime thought not wanting to put someone else against a possible sharingan user. _"If only I could switch Hinata with Sakura though... if she just had some sort of tracking skill I could put her with Kurenai but I can't..."_

The aged Hokage could just rub the bridge of his nose as he let out a sigh when he thought about Hinata. _"Hiashi is probably done reprimanding her now... maybe I should have stayed a little longer..."_

He was taken out of his thoughts though when he heard a knock at his door and a voice he recognized, but a little more serious than usual. "Hokage-sama... may I come in?"

"Hai Anko, you may enter." Sarutobi replied and was surprised to see the woman make a normal entrance into his office and give a bow as she looked away from his eyes ashamed. _"What could have happened now?"_

The woman quietly sat down and shifted nervously in the chair. "What is it that you wish to tell me Anko?" Sarutobi asked breaking the silence and getting serious himself.

"I wish to report a crime against... Uzumaki Naruto." Anko said in a dejected voice.

"What crime would that be?" The Hokage inquired as he intertwined his fingers in front of his face and his elbows placed on his desk showing her his full attention.

"During the search for Uzumaki-san, a few searched his home... including me..." Anko started before taking in a deep breath. "When we entered we didn't find him there, but soon people in the search party started to vandalize the place and... pushed me to do the same. When they ran out of things to break, they decided to set the place on fire. I... I didn't want any part of this, but I didn't stop them either so I'm just as guilty."

Her grip on the armrests tightened until her knuckles went white and she was holding back sobs as she hung her head. "I just went along with it because I thought they were finally accepting me... even though I knew it was wrong. I thought if I kept quiet that it would just blow over, but when I got home I felt so ashamed of myself that I couldn't even sleep." Anko tried to explain, and then looked at the Hokage with a couple of tears slowly dripping from her eyes. "I did something that I never liked directed at me, to someone else... I-I thought I could just prove myself to the village with my strength, but I... but I-I... I'm so sorry for failing you Hokage-sama! Please, just please punish me! Just do something!"

The woman totally broke down at this point as she cried into her hands.

"_This is Anko?... She hasn't show this much emotion since Orochimaru left her. For ten years she's never shed a single tear and now..." _The Sandaime mulled over the situation, and he let out a frown at what he had to do. Quickly he stood up from his chair, and spoke in a commanding voice. "Yes you are right, you should be punished Anko. What you did was a crime, and not stopping it or reporting to me right away was just as bad... I will need time to think about what type of punishment you should receive. For now I want you to give me the names of everyone involved, and I want you to spare no one."

"H-hai Hokage-sama." Anko flinched from the tone of the voice, and was handed a piece of paper with a pen by the Hokage. The authority in the Sandaime's voice was harsh, but it seemed to compose the emotional woman a lot quicker.

He didn't like using that tone, and he didn't like the amount of names Anko was writing down, but it had to be done if he wanted to get the information out of her. A smile however did form on his face as a thought went through his head while watching the woman. Grabbing a small piece of paper, he wrote something down on it, and folded it before handing it over to Anko. "Also, since you won't be getting any sleep, I want you to watch over the occupants in this room. Should they need guarding than you shall do so with your life, do I make myself clear?"

"Hai Hokage-sama!" the snake summoner said as she took the information and shunshin'd out of the room.

Sarutobi just flopped back on his chair rubbing his temple as he looked at the list Anko made. "It's just one thing after another... and now I have to find some place for Naruto to live." He said to himself as he massaged his brow.

Contrary to what happened tonight, the Hokage never let any physical harm come to the boy outside the norm and gave him everything he needed to live; such as food, money, clothes, a place to live, and an education like any other regular child to a certain point without it being seen as special treatment. He got away with a lot of things too in that area when he compared Naruto to the Uchiha boy, but still could not give him the same luxuries. Anyone who tried to harm the boy because of his burden where quickly dealt with and punished... he had a special place in the prison just for them too. The only time the citizens ever vented their anger towards the boy was with petty vandalism, and that happened rarely. Usually it was during times when the Hokage was preoccupied with other things like tonight and they believe they could get away with it. Sometimes they did, but most times they didn't. The only thing the man couldn't protect the boy from totally was how the citizens treated him... they had their own rights and opinions no matter how stupid they were.

A mischievous smirk appeared on Hiruzen's face when he noticed something about the list. _"Oh, this should be good."_

* * *

[Some time later at the hospital]

It was night but she couldn't sleep. How could she? The boy she admired, and today her personal hero, was in a dead sleep just meters away from her. _"Naruto-kun is here! I'm sleeping in the same room as Naruto-kun!" _Hinata delightedly mused, while a little chibi Hinata was doing its happy dance in her head.

Said hero was in a hospital gown just like his roommate, and the blanket was scarcely on him as it slightly hung off the bed. Hinata on the other hand lay on her side towards the blonde with the blanket wrapped around her only showing her eyes and her small nose to hide any evidence of the light pink blush on her face. All she did was watch how his chest rose and fell at a calm pace, how the moonlight bounced off his golden hair, how the small expressions passed through his face as he dreamt, and how his one good hand would randomly scratch a place on his body.

"_Naruto-kun..." _Hinata dreamily thought before an image of a chibi Hinata and Naruto hugging each other as they slept entered her mind. She instantly turned redder than the red light district Jiraiya must have been walking through during this time of night, and covered her face completely. _"I-I shouldn't have such thoughts about Naru-"_

* * *

"ACHOOO!"

"Oh what's wrong Jiraiya-chan? Are you coming down with a cold?" A half-naked hostess asked as she poured another glass of sake for the man surrounded by three different women.

"Hahaha, don't worry Chi-chan, it's nothing it's nothing." Jiraiya chuckled as he downed another glass. "It's probably just another satisfied woman talking about how great I was last night."

The girls giggled before one of them lightly slapped the man's chest. "Oh Jiraiya-chan, you're such a player."

"I know right, hahaha!"

* * *

"ACHOOO!"

"You alright Tsunade-sama?"

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine. What was I talking about again?" The woman asked as she took another sip from the bottle.

Her companion tried looking away and changing subjects. "Um, I don't think it was really that important Tsu-"

"Oh yeah that shtupid jerk Jirentai, he left in the morning like I was shome short of one night shtand..." Tsunade divulged in her intoxicated state, before she started laughing. "Pffft Jirentai! That'sh a good name for him- hic!"

* * *

[Back with Hinata]

The girl didn't get to finish her thoughts as she heard the door to the room open, and she immediately acted like a lumped together blanket because she didn't know who was there. Naruto's name was the only one officially signed up for this room. She could hear two sets of footsteps coming in and the wheels of a cart being pushed along. _"It's probably one of the nurses or doctors here to check up on Naruto-kun."_

"Urgh, I can't believe we're the ones stuck with taking care of this... _thing._ It doesn't even deserve to waste our time on it when we could be helping _real _people." One voice said in a tone that was not in Hinata's liking.

"Yeah well it's our job to do so..." Another woman said before she held a look of contempt. "So let's do our _job_."

With that hidden suggestion, the woman demonstrated. Grabbing a sponge, she barely dipped it before she dropped it on Naruto's chest. "See, there I gave him a sponge bath." She said and then laughed.

The other woman caught on, grabbed the ointment, dipped her pinkie in it, and then dabbed it once on Naruto's shoulder. "And I applied the medicine." Both women quietly laughed at this, before the other woman shushed them both and grabbed something from the cart. "What are you going to do with that?"

"Shhh, just watch." The woman said through held back laughter. Hinata didn't like the way the two were talking, and activated her doujutsu to see what was going on. When she saw the nurse rubbing Naruto's flaccid penis, she quickly deactivated it in embarrassment, and her mind started to become overwhelmed with what she just saw.

The woman didn't stroke him for long, just long enough so that it wasn't limp but neither fully erect. "Cheh, only on a demon." One of the nurses said, and then jammed a small tube into the hole at the tip. There was a lot of resistance, but the woman just forced it in, causing Naruto to squirm and grunt incredibly uncomfortably. "There, now he won't wet the bed; just doing my _job._"

Both women laughed, and hurriedly walked out of the room. When the door closed, Hinata was snapped back into reality, and removed her covers to check up on Naruto's status. He was panting and slightly sweating as his head twist and turned in irritation. Every now and then his one good arm would try to reach the spot that ached, but when it tried to fix it, it only caused him more pain as he let out low groans or soundless gasps. Small mumbles would leave his mouth saying "Take it out" or "It hurts." His member was getting more and more erect by the second in response to the previous stimulation, causing his already narrow hole to tighten around the tube. Just the look on his face showed how much pain he was in, and he must have been extremely drained to not wake up through it all.

"D-don't worry Naruto-kun. I'll help you." Hinata reassured with a concerned look in her eyes. She just wanted him to stop feeling the pain, so she grabbed the tube and yanked on it, only for Naruto to yelp in pain before she let go. "G-gomen, I did m-mean t-to..."

"_I-I have to pull it out carefully... so that means..." _Hinata thought as she looked towards the tent in Naruto's gown and gulped with a red blush on her face. _"I-It's f-for Naruto-kun."_

Hesitantly Hinata pulled up his gown, and with an unsteady hand, grabbed Naruto's rod just under the head to keep it still. _"I-I can't even wrap my hand all the way around it. It's so hard and hot, but soft against my skin... NO! BAD HINATA! Stop thinking about Naruto-kun's p-p-p-..." _She couldn't even say the word in her mind. Shaking her head to get the thought out completely, she once again grabbed the tube near the tip this time, and slowly pulled it out, apologizing each time he made a sound of pain.

Naruto's face soon held a look of relief, and after covering up his modesty, Hinata's did too. Her blush had gone down a lot as well... until she noticed her hand hadn't let go of him. _"NO! LET GO! You're not a perverted girl. Bad hentai hand, bad!" _The shy girl mentally scolded her hand after she let go. Once again she was in control of her blush... except for a little bit of pink every time she glanced at the tent. She shook her head once again to get the thought out, and pulled the blanket over it to hold it down... but it didn't help much.

For now though she was at least in control of her emotions... if someone had come in or if Naruto had woken up... _"Oh god I would have just died!" _Hinata thought even though she would just probably feint from the shock. Luckily a shock did come when she wasn't in a compromising position.

"What are you doing?" Anko asked as she walked into the room causing Hinata to respond with an 'eep'. She looked at the girl standing next to Naruto's sleeping form with a tube in her hand and a tent not too far from her. This caused her to quirk a purple eyebrow.

Hinata explained about how the two nurses came in and instead of caring for him, they ignored him. Anko was infuriated, but it still didn't answer her main question, so she asked once more. The shy girl only blushed as she looked at the ground and continued on with the story. "O-one of the nurses took this t-tube, and touched N-Naruto-kun's p-p-... p-p-p-"

A little impatient because of her new anger, Anko spoke "Spit it out!"

"PENIS!" Hinata shouted in surprise, and when she did she covered her face with her hands afterwards.

Anko's anger seemed to be more controlled as she held back a laugh from Hinata's outburst. _"She's really pure and innocent."_

After a moment, Anko asked her to continue and Hinata dropped her hands but wasn't able to look at the woman straight in the face. "S-she took the tube and f-forced it i-in through the end. N-Naruto-kun was in a lot of pain because of it, so I..." She trailed off and her blush got deeper.

"_Ok, maybe not that innocent." _Anko thought as she gave a small laugh, not being able to hold it in. Her smile disappeared though when she looked at the sleeping boy, and felt the shame from before come back. She held up her mask though, and looked to Hinata with anger on her face again. "Tell me who these bitches are, and I'll make them pay, one way or another."

"A-ano... b-before that could you h-help me lift up N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata quietly asked as she poked her index fingers together. "Th-the nurses that came in s-sounded like th-they had to w-wash him b-before putting on h-his medicine... and I'm afraid someone else might hurt him again so..."

"A-Alright... I was ordered to guard him, so I guess this counts towards that." Anko spoke in a subdued voice when Hinata said someone might hurt him. _"... If she knew what I did today... she wouldn't trust me to do this like the rest of them... I have to make it up to the boy..."_

Anko got close to the boy when Hinata grabbed the sponge off his chest, and soaked it in the soapy water. The blanket was soon removed from the boy, and the heiress let out a sigh of relief when she noticed the tent was gone.

"Why are you doing this for him?" Anko asked still feeling a little shame as she carefully lifted the boy up so that he was sitting, and undid the string in the back of the gown to expose his upper body.

Hinata's cheeks turned rosy at the sight of his unveiled chest, but walked a little ahead so that she could start on his back. "N-Naruto-kun is th-the kind of p-person who m-makes you feel happy wh-whenever you're around h-him if you get t-to know h-him, and... he saved my life..." Hinata explained with a small smile and blush on her face. "That's wh-why... if I can do anything to make him feel b-better that much f-faster... I'll do it..."

Anko was a little stunned with the way the little Hyuuga spoke about him and how she diligently worked to scrub him clean. Her eyes then moved from the girl to the face of the village outcast. _"I know it's not right to judge people up front... but could someone more lonely than me really make people happy?... There were a couple of times I thought about killing myself, how can he put up with it?" _Anko thought with empathy, but now had a little more respect for the boy. _"He really must be special if he can get an innocent girl like her all over him... well a little naughty but pretty much innocent."_

The last thought made Anko giggle and Hinata looked at her confused while she was towelling off Naruto's back. "Oh it's nothing, forget about it." The special jounin waved off, and then placed Naruto back down in a sleeping position. "You can clean the rest of him without me now, so I'm going to go outside to teach some... worthless whores proper bedside manners."

"W-w-wait, I c-can't-"

"Bye bye shoujo-chan. Make sure you clean ever single part of him. Don't miss a spot." Anko teased as she walked out of the room, and gave Hinata a wink before she left.

Hinata flushed at the possible hidden statement in the woman's words, but ignored them and continued on giving the boy a sponge bath. She enjoyed the relaxed look on his face when the warm water went over his skin, and she giggled every time he hummed in delight. Sometimes she would catch herself staring, and quickly chided herself for such actions. When she had to clean his right arm, she was a little more careful with the pressure she was exerting, but it didn't seem like he was in that much pain anymore.

She did the same for his legs, but when the bottom of his gown got in the way, she just scrunched her eyes shut, and pushed forward underneath it. If her hand accidently brushed against his package, she instantly flinched away in embarrassment, calmed herself down, and continued to clean him. The same thing would happen when she had to towel him dry, but when it came to actually drying him between his legs, she composed herself as best she could, and quickly dried it off.

"_I can't believe I just did that." _Hinata thought mortified as she hid her face behind her hands. It was inevitable... the towel was only so thick, so she couldn't help but feel the shape of it when she dried it off. After a couple of minutes controlling her breathing, she looked at the cart for the medicine, and found the unscrewed ointment the nurse had opened before. _"I guess I have to put this on his arm and legs, but where exactly does it hurt?"_

With that thought in mind, the veins around Hinata's eyes bulged as she pumped chakra into them. _"Amazing... the doctors must be really good, his bones looked like chips of wood before, but his muscles are still a little bit torn... that must be where it hurts." _Hinata thought and began to gently work the ointment into his skin. A few moans of approval for the massage were given out by Naruto, and it made Hinata increase a few shades, but feel appreciated at the same time. _"H-he likes what I'm doing to him... does it really feel that good?"_

The shy girl tried to imagine if it were the other way around... with her skin bare to the outside... and his strong hands roaming it, needing it... She had to stop herself when a drop of blood trickled out her nose. Secretly, she was already enjoying moving her own hands over his warm skin; anymore stimulation was not required.

As she calmed down, she noticed for the first time little wisps of red chakra had started moving towards the areas covered in ointment, and seemed to use it to heal Naruto's muscles rapidly compared to before. _"It's the same colour that he and that girl used... why is it like that..."_

However she didn't get to think about it for long, when she was finishing up around his legs, moon like orbs noticed a part of Naruto standing at attention as if begging for the same treatment that his other body parts got. Hinata eep!'d in surprise but quickly covered him up with the blanket before anyone could walk in. Having finished taking care of Naruto, she began walking towards her bed until the boy's good hand shot out, and grabbed her wrist in protest.

The hold wasn't painful like the one that girl had put her in that left bruises on her wrist, but it wasn't slack either. The sweat warmth from his hand was spreading, as if melting her, causing her natural reaction to appear on her cheeks again. "N-N-N-Naruto-kun, p-p-please l-let g-g-go of m-my h-h-h-h-hand." His response was a grunt in objection to her request. She started trying to pull her hand out as she repeated herself. "P-p-please N-Naruto-kun, If a-anyone s-s-saw- Eep!"

The village's most surprising ninja had pulled back in disapproval, causing Hinata to fall on top of his chest with her face just inches away from his. Totally flabbergasted, the heiress tried speaking once more. "Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-"

"Hooo... now what do we have here? You're a little more daring than I thought girlie." Anko snickered catching Hinata completely off guard as she was bent down at her head level only a couple of feet away from the girl.

The torture specialist only saw the girl's face turn into a tomato before her eyes rolled up in her head and she feinted. Not being able to restrain herself, Anko laughed to her heart's content before she picked up Hinata. That's when she noticed the hand anchoring her down. _"Oh this should be good." _The woman thought with a gleam in her eye, and positioned Hinata snugly next to Naruto under the blanket. _"Thank me in the morning girlie."_

* * *

[Sunrise]

"_It's so warm... it feels nice..." _Hinata mused as she felt the relaxing heat surrounding her body. The knots in her muscles seemed to unravel as it soothed her skin, and a rhythmic beating was next to her ear which made her completely calm.

"Aghhum."

The sound of someone clearing their throat threatened to wake her up, but Hinata wouldn't have it, and just hugged the warmth closer to her. _"No... I don't want to leave..."_

"AGHHUM!" The throat cleared louder.

Pupil less eyes fluttered open to the world, and with a moan of irritation from the sunlight hitting her eyes, the Hyuuga focused her eyes on the source of the noise. _"... Hokage-sama?..." _Hinata thought sleepily, before her eyes shot open. "H-Hokage-sama! G-g-good morn-Eep! N-N-N-Naruto-kun!"

The fuel for the warmth that she felt earlier was discovered... under her head. Instantly, she got out of bed with a blush, took a few steps away from Naruto, and bowed to the Hokage. "I-I-I don't kn-kn-know how I-"

"No need... Anko already explained it to me." Sarutobi said as he held up a flat palm telling the girl to stop.

Said mischievous woman interrupted at that point. "Did you have a nice rest?"

Hinata just looked to the ground, and poked her fingers together.

Sarutobi chuckled at this behaviour, but was quickly cut off by an irate blonde. "Argh jiji, why are you making so much noise?" Naruto asked as he sat up with closed eyes and hands over his ears.

"Oh glad you could join us Naruto, good morning." The Sandaime greeted with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Morning to you too jiji. Neh, why am I so cold, and- AH!" Naruto asked before he opened his eyes and then quickly closed them. "Why is it so damn bright!?"

The professor's curious eye watched Naruto as Anko closed the blinds of the room. "Thanks a lot, ano..."

"A-Anko... Mitarashi Anko." The woman introduced as she took a deep bow, not being able to look the boy in the eye. The gesture surprised Sarutobi because he had never seen Anko bow that low to anyone before.

"So why am I here in the hospital again ji-" The memories of last night came back to him, and he shot out of bed. "What happened to Iruka-sensei and Hinata, jiji!?"

"Calm down Naruto, Iruka's fine. He'll need a crutch for the next three days, but he'll be fine, and Hinata-san is right over there." The Hokage informed as he pointed to the blushing girl.

"G-good m-m-m-morning N-Naruto-kun." She whispered giving a bow.

It was then that Naruto noticed his state of dress, and thanked god that it was just the top part of the gown that was hanging. "Ah!..." Naruto shouted as he clumsily, put his arms throw the sleeves before he scratched the back of his head, and gave his fox like smile. "Ahehe, g-good morning..." He then leaned towards Sarutobi before he whispered. "Hey jiji, where are my clothes? I don't like wearing these things."

"Oh well unfortunately because of last night your clothes where cut up by the doctors so that they could fix you, so you don't have any clothes here, however..." The Sandaime explained, but then handed the boy a new set of clothes. "Someone _volunteered _(looked at Anko) to get you some new ones and I told them your taste."

"Wow... thanks jiji." Naruto happily said and then looked to Anko. "Thanks nee-chan."

The woman blushed at the familiar tone he was using, and once again felt guilt pang through her heart. "Y-your welcome... Naruto."

Oh the Hokage was gonna milk this guilt of hers for as long as he could. _"This is only the tip of it." _The Hokage then got the attention of the two children in the room. "Now then I think you two should get changed, and Hinata-san I think you should go home to prepare for the rest of the day after your done."

"H-hai Hokage-sama." Hinata responded, and then pulled the curtain around her bed like Naruto was doing so that she could change privately.

Naruto's nose started to twitch when he took off his gown, and he started sniffing until he stopped at his chest. "Oi jiji, I smell a little funny... not a bad funny, it actually smells good... did somebody put something on me?"

"Eep!" Hinata flustered before she bumped into a medical cart.

"Are you ok Hinata?"

"H-hai." She answered in a low voice while the two adults laughed quietly.

It didn't take long for Hinata to get her clothes on, and start heading towards the door. "I-I-I'll be going b-back home n-now. Th-thank you Hokage-sama for yesterday, thank you Mitarashi-san as well... a-and a-a-arigato N-Naruto-kun f-for s-s-s-saving me. G-g-goodbye." And before they could say the same, Hinata ran out the room with red cheeks.

"Hey wait Hina-"

"Let her go for now Naruto, you'll see her later today anyways. Right now I need to ask you a few questions, and I know you want to do the same." The Hokage instructed, and then gave a quick hard look at Anko. The woman nodded and left the room for the two to be alone. "Also, there're a few things I need to tell you, like the surprise waiting for you after class."

* * *

[End of flashback, back in the classroom]

Naruto had turned a couple of heads around in surprise for either the forehead protector on his head, or the clothes he was wearing... sometimes both. It was still full of orange but a little more subdued in brightness.

He wore a dark orange t-shirt that had black flames along the bottom of the torso and sleeves. His pants on the other hand were all black on the outside except for a thick line of his favourite colour going down the side, plus the inside of his pockets and pants (but no one needed to know that, he just needed to know that). The only other colour on him was a red spiral on the left shoulder of his shirt. The holster and pouch were in their appropriate places, but still he was getting a couple of curious looks.

However no matter how nice the clothes were, it didn't improve his mood. He had gone over what happened last night with the Hokage, and it forced him to take a hard look at his actions, which only ended up making him think sadly in one way. _"I'm a baka... dattebayo..."_

A man with a scar over his nose came into the class room with a piece of paper, and stood at the front, facing the fresh genin. "Alright class quiet down." Iruka informed. "I'm going to call out the new teams."

* * *

Next chapter: Forgiveness

A/N: If you were able to get through this chapter, I'm glad. Just so you know it's not going to get any more perverted than this... (You happy now little kids!?)

Oh and if you haven't noticed... Hinata just admires Naruto and hasn't noticed that she has romantic feelings for him, let alone loves him. That's right, I'm taking this nice and sloooooow. This will not be a harem, but there will be a lot of girls and guys trying to get Naruto or Hinata.

Note: Jiraiya + Hentai = Jirentai, for those of you who didn't get what I did there... (although I don't blame you... I can see how it could be stupid)


	2. Forgiveness

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but Shakespeare owns his plays and that doesn't stop them from raping them repeatedly over and over again with rusty pipes... However, legally it is still owned by Kishimoto.

* * *

Chapter 2: Forgiveness

Everyone was dismissed from class after hearing what teams they were in. They were left to go eat their lunch and possibly talk with their teammates now. Hinata though did neither when she noticed the dog owner of her team give her an eager look that she wasn't too fond of. Before anyone could approach her, she quickly left the room, with a bag in hand, to do two things. One, get away from anyone who made her feel uncomfortable, and two, find Naruto.

"_If I use my eyes, maybe I can-..." _She stopped her contemplation and let out a sigh when she thought of the Byakugan. _"Was he worried about me... or about my eyes?..."_

After the heiress of the Hyuuga clan was given a second scolding and some new restrictions when she came back home that morning, she couldn't stop herself from asking these types of questions. _"He never directly said it was to protect our kekkai genkai... but he never said it was for my protection either..." _Hinata thought as the one phrase her father said in concern repeated in her head... _"It's for the good of the family..."_

Her reflections where cut short though when she heard the sound of someone hitting a tree over and over again. Timidly, she looked around the corner, and was surprised at who it was.

"_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I could have killed somebody! I could have killed someone who's nice to me! Who the hell uses a jutsu they've never used or seen before! She could have died! ARGH, STUPID!" _Naruto reprimanded as his right hand continuously punched against the rough bark. When he retold the story to the Sandaime, he was reminded about how powerless he felt, and the risk he put everyone in with that jutsu... Although Mizuki was a traitor, he was upset that someone had died because of him, and he didn't know if he could forgive himself if it happened to someone who was innocent. Which is why he felt so depressed with all the guilt flowing through him. Even now, Naruto's precious forehead protector was off his head, and in a tight grip in his other hand. _"I don't deserve this."_

He didn't stop until his nose twitched, and snapped his head around over his shoulder to look at the corner of the building. "Who's there!?"

Hinata was surprised, but reluctantly walked into view with her blush ever present, and her hands poking together. "H-h-hello N-Naruto-kun."

Said boy's eyes widened when he found out it was her, and he instantly turned his head out of the way and towards the ground out of shame. He had to tighten his fist just to control the anger he had towards himself. "Hello Hinata, how... how are you?"

"I-I'm f-f-fine N-Naruto-kun, how ar- Naruto-kun, y-your hand!" Hinata fretted louder than she normally spoke when she saw the bloody fist.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I was just a little mad so I was taking it out on this tree, it's no big deal." Naruto said as he put his mask up and acted as if everything was normal.

"I-It is a big deal, y-you shouldn't h-hurt yourself like that." Hinata chided after she rushed over to his side, dropped her bag, and quickly grabbed a small container from her pouch. Both her hands had grabbed Naruto's, taking full control over it before she cleaned off the blood, and placed ointment over the damaged fist. She didn't even look long enough to notice that his hand was healing and already had a roll of bandages out to cover his hand past the wrist. "Y-You shouldn't a-abuse it l-like that out o-of anger. It won't d-do anything and you'll only h-hurt yourself."

"I-I don't care... I'm useless anyways; it doesn't matter if I get hurt." Naruto spoke in a lifeless voice as he just looked at his hatai-ate in his hand.

"Th-that's not t-true." Hinata protested still bandaging his arm.

"Yes it is, I'm useless and good for n-"

"Th-then were you u-useless wh-when you s-s-saved my life!?" Hinata interjected getting slightly angry from his words.

"I-I am if the jutsu I used almost killed you!" Naruto shot back slightly frustrated.

"I-If you d-didn't use i-it, Mizuki-sen-... Mizuki would have k-killed me. I-I'm glad you u-used it."

"But it almost killed you, me, and Iruka-sensei, and that would have made me just as bad as the bastard. I... I felt so powerless and afraid in front of both of them..."

"B-but that didn't s-stop you. You didn't let M-Mizuki, or that girl hurt us... even though you knew they were s-stronger than you, you never gave up. E-every time they kn-knocked you d-down, you got back up and fought." Hinata said in a more tranquil tone when she remembered how Naruto acted. "T-to me that was true strength and you proved it was when you saved m-me and Iruka-sensei. That's why I can't let you hurt this hand for no reason... it's the one that got stronger to save me."

Naruto looked at the quiet girl in astonishment as she seemed to be fixated on his hand. The anger in his body started to leave him, and a smile soon appeared on his face. "Yosh! Then watch me Hinata because I'm going to keep on getting stronger so that nobody can beat me! Then I'll be Konoha's greatest Hokage, dattebayo!" Naruto proclaimed as he shot up his fist to go with the statement. That's when both preteens noticed that the bandages were wrapped all the way up to just before his elbow pointlessly. "Heh, it's a little long."

"G-g-g-gomen, I wasn't thinking and I-" Hinata reached out to unwrap it, but Naruto stopped her.

"No it's ok. I like it this way..." Naruto interjected, and then looked at the bandages. _"It'll remind me to not be afraid, and that there's always something I can do..."_

"Thank you Hinata... for everything." Naruto gratefully said with a true smile towards the girl.

Hinata could only blush and grab the bottom of her coat as her heart felt like it was being overwhelmed. _"He's smiling at me... It's that same smile from before... it's so... refreshing." _Hinata thought while looking at the ground, except when she took several glimpses of his smile. "Y-y-y-y-your w-w-wel-welcome N-N-Naruto-kun."

Silence rained on the two until the unpredictable ninja's stomach begged for food. "Hehe, I was thinking too much on other things that I forgot to eat, I haven't even eaten since lunch yesterday. I guess I should go and buy something in t-"

"W-wait!" Hinata spoke up before going back to shy mode and poking her fingers together when she got his attention.

"A-ano, I th-thought that y-y-you m-might not h-have e-eaten anything at the h-hospital so I-I..." Hinata bent down to her discarded bag and brought out two boxes. "I made an e-extra b-b-bento at h-home f-for y-y-y-you to show m-m-my a-appreciation for l-last night. I-I know i-it's not much, b-but if y-you want, you c-could e-e-e-e-eat th-this."

Ok maybe he was a little predictable. "Really? You made this for me?" Naruto asked bewildered. When Hinata only nodded her head, he happily took a box from her hand. "Wow, thanks a lot Hinata. You want to eat on the bench over there?"

"_He wants to eat with me!?" _Hinata thought dazed, and once more nodded her head.

The two sat down, and opened their boxes to the food inside. Naruto was astounded by what he saw, and instantly started to drool from the smell. "Itadakimasu!" The blonde said after he grabbed his chopsticks. However, when he tried to pick up the food, his hand started to hurt from the pain he had self inflicted on it earlier. "Ouch."

Hinata looked at him worriedly when she heard the pained sound, and after she saw the boy switch hands and failing at trying to eat, she gathered as much of her courage as possible to say the next few things that were coming out of her mouth. "I-I-If you w-want N-Naruto-kun, I-I-I can f-f-f-f-feed you." Hinata offered while her eyes screwed shut with tinted red cheeks.

"No, it's fine Hinata, I can j-umph!" Naruto tried to say before Hinata daringly grabbed some food from his box and stuck it in his mouth. The boy started chewing, and his eyes widened in amazement at the taste. "Hinata, did you really make this all by yourself?"

"H-Hai." Hinata replied, while feeling dread in her stomach. _"Oh god he hates it. I should have never offered it. I'm so stupid!"_

"Sugoi..." Naruto praised, which caught Hinata off guard. He looked back down at the box, and pointed at something else inside it. "Hey, how does that one taste?"

The heiress quickly picked it up, and put it in the waiting mouth not wanting to disappoint him. The blonde hummed in delight, and pointed to more things until Hinata was basically just feeding. He didn't seem to care anymore because he was enjoying the food too much.

Hinata was internally ecstatic with the content look on Naruto's face after each bite. _"He liked it... he really liked it. He ate everything inside. A-and I got to feed it to him!" _Hinata thought with a blush and a small smile as she started eating her own box. However there was a pause after she took the first bite and her eyes widened as her face went pink. _"Th-this is the same pair of chopsticks I used to feed Naruto-kun... d-does this mean I'm having... an indirect kiss with Naruto-kun."_

A drop of blood rolled out her nose, which she quickly cleaned up before Naruto could notice. The blonde though was now patting his stomach with a happy look on his face. "Man that really hit the spot. You're really good at cooking Hinata. You could give Ichiraku-oyaji a run for his money. Sort of makes me wish I had more."

"I-If you w-want, I-I'm not th-th-that hungry. You c-can have th-th-the rest of m-mine." Hinata shyly offered.

"No, that wouldn't be right. You barely touched your food, and it's really good. I couldn't take it from you." Naruto countered but was still drooling at the idea.

Hinata made her second bold move of the day. "Th-then l-lets sh-sh-sh-sh-share it."

"Really? You want to share it? Ok!" Naruto said not being able to hold himself back anymore from the offer.

It wasn't until Hinata brought up the piece of food to Naruto's mouth did she notice something else. _"Th-those touched my mouth, and now Naruto-kun is-" _The blonde's mouth had already engulfed the presented food along with the tips of the chopsticks before he pulled back leaving just the sticks.

Her face went red now, but she still grabbed the next piece of food and was going to give it to Naruto who just shook his head, and pointed at her. _"O god, now he wants me to eat." _Hinata realized as she shakily brought it to her mouth, and couldn't help for the sticks to enter along with it.

This back and forth exchange went on until every scrap of food was gone from the bento. _"I-I can't believe I did that... right in front of him. Was he teasing me this whole time?"_

"That was delicious Hinata." Said girl couldn't stop her heart from beating faster as she thought of the indirect kiss.

"_He's just talking about the food!" _She told herself because he couldn't possibly be thinking about the taste of the indirect kiss like someone else was.

"When you get a family of your own, I know they will be happy eating your cooking every day. I know I would." Naruto complimented without any hidden meaning, but that didn't stop Hinata from turning a nice bright red with smoke coming out her ears.

* * *

[Inside Hinata's head]

"Warning! Warning! System overload! System overload!"

"Oh god what is it this time?" A chibi Hinata asked while in its special seat in the middle of the command center.

"Captain, we're being flooded with images of kissing Naruto, and potential babies with Naruto as the father. All motor skills have stopped, along with coherent thoughts." Another chibi Hinata informed from behind a computer.

"Naruto... the cause of all my problems." The chibi captain said with a glare as she said his name. She then quickly stood up and gave orders to the other chibi Hinata-s running around the room. "Alright people don't panic, standard positions everyone!"

"Increase processing power in the brain! Get that oxygen to it!"

"Captain, we've pumped as much blood as we could up there, but it's starting to heat up!"

"Tell the ears to let out the hot air now, and get more blood through the veins to cool her down."

"Hai captain."

"Overt the eyes from the enemy, we can't let him fuel these thoughts anymore."

"Captain, the link between the sensory orbs and the controls are jammed."

"Tch, what else could go wrong."

"Captain I have a transmission here from the heart."

"Send it through." An image then appeared on the big screen with another chibi Hinata inside it while a heart beat in the background.

"Captain, doki-doki levels are through the roof. We're trying to pump as much blood as we can, but she just can't take anymore!" She talked in a Scottish accent for some reason.

"Shit, Lieutenant Hinata, what's your status on our situation."

"Our defensive shields have all been torn down, and we're being attacked relentlessly. All controls have been cut off to us, and if we don't respond soon, one organ at a time will start failing on us."

Just then another video came up on the screen.

"Captain, the lungs have stopped functioning! We're already running low on oxygen, well suffocated at this point. What do we do!?"

"There's nothing that we can do..." The captain just looked off into space as she flopped back into her chair. "May god help us all."

* * *

[Back with Naruto and Hinata]

Naruto was looking at a different direction than Hinata, so he didn't notice anything wrong. A thought then went through his head, causing him to chuckle before he spoke. "Hehe, you know when we first went to the academy I thought you were a quiet and dark girl... but after talking to you, I know you're a quiet, dark and weird girl... I like people like that."

This caused Hinata to forget about her current thoughts and calm down a little bit, but still keeping a pretty dark tint. "R-r-r-r-really?"

"Of course..." Naruto reassured. "I know no one really likes me, but if I could, I'd wish I could have a friend like you."

"I'D LOVE TO BE YOUR FRIEND!!" Hinata shouted and got up like a rocket. This made Naruto jump out of his seat in surprise, not expecting such an enthusiastic response from the little girl... and it seemed neither did she as she sat back down and gripped her knees.

"I'd like to be your friend..." She repeated a little more calmly.

"Really?"

*nod*

"This isn't a joke right?"

*shake*

The boys eyes lit up from his spot on the ground and a few tears came out before he quickly wiped them away. He instantly got to his feet, and punched his arms up in the air. "I HAVE A FRIEND -TTEBAYO!!!"

* * *

[After being dismissed by their jounin sensei]

Naruto was happily walking to the Hokage's office. It had been a rough day this morning, but now he felt like nothing could go wrong. _"I finally have a real friend!"_

That is until he actually got to the Hokage's office. "Naruto I'm sorry, but your building burned down." The Sandaime said in a monotone voice as if it were nothing, and continued on signing papers.

Naruto's jaw hit the floor in shock. "I-It b-burned down? This is what you wanted to tell me after school?" He asked in almost a breathless whisper. A certain snake summoner, who was standing next to the Hokage, felt like her guilt was ripping her hear out of her chest when she saw the look on the boy's face.

"Yes." The Hokage said carelessly.

"What do you mean yes!? I have no home!" Naruto retorted as he slammed his hands on top of the desk.

Anko was shaking. _"No... no more, I can't take this."_

Sarutobi only inwardly smirk when he noticed Anko's reaction.

"What am I going to do? I don't have anywhere to go!" Naruto continued to panic.

Anko screwed her eyes shut at this. _"Oh god, I have to do something."_

"I'll have to sleep outside tonight! But that's against the law! Forget the law, what happens if a villager finds me sleeping!"

"I-I LET HIM SLEEP OVER AT MY PLACE HOKAGE-SAMA!" Anko snapped not being able to take it anymore, and started panting from the overreaction. This caused the other two occupants in the room to look at the woman shocked, but only Naruto was shocked by the proposal.

"Oh... that won't be needed Anko..." The Sandaime said casually after he composed himself.

"EEH!?" The other two questioned in surprise.

"I already arranged for a place for Naruto to live, after someone charitably _donated _it." Sarutobi said as he tossed Naruto a key.

The two both looked at the key, and then at the Hokage before both faces turned red with anger. "Why didn't you say so sooner!?"

"You never asked."

"Then what about that rant I gave out earlier?" Naruto countered still fuming.

"I thought you were being rhetorical... you never left room for someone to answer you." The Hokage answered and calmly took a sip of water from his cup. A vein started to pulse on Naruto's forehead at that. The Hokage then handed a thick envelope to Naruto and a piece of paper to Anko. "Also, here's some money for the damage done to your property, and I want you Anko to escort Naruto to his new home."

"Hai Hokage-sama." Anko replied through gritted teeth, and then unfolded the piece of paper she got. Her eyes widened when she saw what was written on it. "H-Hokage-sama, th-this is..."

"Is there a problem _Anko-chan_?" The Hokage asked giving his grandfather like smile, but the way he said her name promised something that she didn't want to know the consequences of.

"N-no Hokage-sama... everything is fine." Anko quickly responded, and then looked to the blonde. "Come on Naruto, let's go."

The boy followed, and when the two were out of the door, Hiruzen held nothing back. _"Kami, the look on their faces! I don't think I've ever seen Anko that distressed before!" _Sarutobi reflected as he had a good long laugh. _"I have to go get my crystal ball. I can't miss their faces when they get to the apartment."_

* * *

[15 minutes later at an apartment complex]

"It's completely empty!" Naruto shouted into the hollow room when he walked inside of it. "Well I guess I should have expected that since I just got this place and lost all my stuff in the fire."

The reference caused Anko to flinch, and the dreaded feeling washed over her body again. _"Does he even have a single blanket to sleep with?"_

The blonde on the other hand was excited about having a new place, and started exploring it as soon as he came in. Anko just stood at the doorway not exactly understanding why the Hokage gave the boy this place, or when it even went on sale.

"_Didn't this place belong to-..." _She thought until she remembered that the resident was one of the ones that burned down Naruto's place. That's when she remembered that a lot of people from this apartment had helped with that incident. _"I thought the halls sounded a little quiet, but why did he give him this place, on this spot."_

"Looks like jiji got me some stuff!" Naruto said as he dragged a couple of bags into the main room for the woman to see. "It's just some ninja supplies to replace the ones I lost in the fire, and a few sets of the same clothes you picked out for me nee-chan. I think he likes the change; well I do too, so it's fine. How long did it take you to choose them anyways nee-chan?"

"Huh?" Anko intelligently answered when Naruto knocked her out of her deep thought process. "Um, well I found the pants really fast, but I had to search six other stores to find a good enough orange shirt, and they didn't even sell it to me at first. I had to take it out when they weren't looking, but I left the money on the counter. Then I went to another store that's a little nicer to me, and I got them to sow on that emblem on the shoulder."

"Wow... you did all that to find these clothes?"

"Well... yeah. Why else would I have to search through six different stores? Do you know how hard it is to find any orange clothing that l think at least would look good? I'm actually surprised the Hokage was able to get more of them... that one was the only one I saw."

Naruto felt humbled by the consideration, and just looked at the floor shy. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me again? You already did that when I gave them to you."

"I know... I just felt like it." Naruto spoke in a low voice.

Anko blushed a little at how grateful the boy seemed, and couldn't take it anymore as she broke the mood by ruffling his hair. "Don't worry about it, now stop talking so quietly. So how do you like your new place?"

"It's amazing! It's a lot bigger than my last place, it's clean, and it looks like it was really well kept." Naruto went on bouncing with energy. "I just don't know where the bath and shower are."

"Did you take a close look in the washroom? There's a sliding door that leads into it."

Naruto absorbed the information, and bolted for the washroom. A loud shout was soon heard. "Wow, it's HUGE! And I have sliding doors!" The boy then ran back to the scantily clad woman. "Hey, hey nee-chan, how'd you know it was there?"

"Cause I live in this building, my place is just like this one."

"Really!? So does that mean we're neighbours?" Naruto asked with hope in his eyes.

"Sort of..." Anko said as she pointed to the roof. "I live directly above you on the next floor."

"Cool, so I'll be able to see you around huh?"

"Y-yeah, I guess you will."

"Well you probably want to go home now right nee-chan? Thanks for bringing me here."

"Huh, o-oh yeah, well then... see you later Naruto." Anko hesitantly said not sure if she should leave or not.

"See you later nee-chan." Naruto duplicated.

"Um yeah... bye." That seemed to push Anko into a decision as she started leaving from the doorway.

"_She's gone... I guess it's just me here now." _Naruto closed the door, a little sad that he was all alone, but he quickly put on a smile. "So what should I do first?"

* * *

[A couple of minutes later in Anko's apartment]

A very distraught woman was pacing back and forth in the main room as she contemplated over and over again. _"Should I have stayed a little bit longer? Maybe I should have given him a tour of the place? Should I have invited him to my place for some tea to welcome him into the building? Or maybe I should have... (etc.)"_

These thoughts didn't seem like they would go away at all... that is until a holler broke her stride.

"AHHHHH!"

"_Naruto!" _Anko thought in a panic, and took off for the stairs because the elevator would take too long. Within seconds, she burst through the door looking for the blonde. "NARUTO!?"

"Huh? Nee-chan? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he walked out of the washroom with a wet face and shirt.

"I *pant* heard a scream, and I *swallow* came down to see what's wrong, and-"

"Oh, sorry, sorry. I tried washing my hands, but there was something under the faucet, so when I turned it on I got sprayed with cold water." Naruto explained.

Anko had regained her breath, and composed herself. "Oh... well sorry to bother you than. Bye Naruto."

"Bye Nee-chan."

As she left she took a second glance back to make sure it was fine, and closed the door. She only made it to the door of the stairs when she heard metal hitting metal.

Once again she rushed to the door, and let herself through. "Naruto are you-! She stopped herself when she found Naruto sitting on the floor with new kunai and shuriken in a pile in front of him.

"Ah! Sorry nee-chan, I was just looking at the new weapons jiji got me when the bag broke and they all fell to the ground. I didn't mean for it to happen."

"No... No that's ok Naruto. Um, I'll be going then... ja ne."

"Cya nee-chan."

Once again Anko left the residence, and this time was actually able to make it to her own place. She closed the door to her apartment, leaned back against it, and slumped to the floor letting out a sigh. _"What the hell was I doing? I got so worked up over nothing..."_

*BAM!!!*

The sound of something heavy hitting the floor down below was so hard that it even shook her floor. Her body didn't even hesitate as it raced back down to the boy's door.

"Naruto! What the hell hap-"

"Gomen, gomen, nee-chan." Naruto said as he got up and rubbed his behind. "I was looking high and low for some cups of ramen before I remembered that I didn't have any here, and I fell down off the counter while I was searching. I can't believe I fell and- Hey nee-chan, what are you doing!?"

The mistress of torture couldn't take it anymore. She stomped over to Naruto, hefted him over her shoulder, and barged out of the place back to her home. The boy was then dropped onto the couch nonchalantly in surprise, before the woman spoke. "You're staying here tonight!"

"What? But nee-chan I w-" The glare he got from the woman stopped his counter argument in its tracks.

"You're staying, and I'm making you something to eat, and you're going to damn well like it." Anko commanded in a harsh tone to which Naruto just vigorously nodded his head in fear.

The special jounin took off her trench coat, tossed it on the couch, and just marched over to the kitchen as she grumbled something to herself. "It's like his place was booby trapped or something."

* * *

"ACHOOO!" Sarutobi sneezed as he looked on through the glass orb. "I guess she might suspect me now, but I didn't plan for the last thing Naruto did. That was just the cherry on the top."

* * *

[Back with the village outcasts]

After finishing preparing the meal, Anko's anger seemed to diffuse which made the very scared Naruto happy. The room was filled with silence... that is until Naruto found out what was for dinner.

"Ramen!?" Naruto questioned in an excited tone.

"Um no it's actually pho. I wanted to make something fast, but I don't know how to cook well, so I boiled some water and put it in." Anko said looking at the boy confused at his behaviour.

The blonde gave her a smile, grabbed his utensil, and looked at the bowl hungrily before he said. "Well it looks like it, Itadakimasu." Grabbing some noodles, he gave it his first taste and went wide-eyed in surprise. "Wow it's really good, tastes a little different, but just as good as ramen! Do they always put this much meat inside!?"

"Huh? No, I added that myself and a couple of spices because I thought it was too bland." Anko replied not expecting such a reaction for a simple bowl of soup.

"You're the best nee-chan! Teuchi-oyaji never puts enough in his ramen. Thanks a lot!"

Anko felt humbled, and just stirred the soup with her chopsticks as she looked at it. "Y-your welcome Naruto."

The atmosphere after that seemed to lighten up, and the two started talking to each other about the most random things to try and get the other to laugh and have noodles come out their nose. By the end of the meal Anko won 5-1, and Naruto was only able to get one point in by referring to her as the goddess of jokes at the end.

The two then sat on the couch in front of the TV and watched Hi no Kuni's funniest home videos. It was the grand prize episode, so the both of them were laughing so hard that they had to use each other as support a few times.

This helped Naruto figure out why he couldn't see Anko's practically naked breast even though she was just wearing a mesh jumpsuit and a skirt now. She had on a skin coloured sports bra underneath, made out of what felt like the same material used for pantyhose, and he was glad for it. However the way he found that out was when he pulled on it by accident at her back.

"Oh getting a little frisky there are we?" Anko quipped.

"N-no I wasn't! I'm not a pervert nee-chan!" Naruto defended

"But your hands were all over me just a second ago _Naruto-kun_." Anko acted in a shy girl's voice as if she were embarrassed.

Naruto just blushed, either from anger or his own embarrassment the woman didn't know. "That's because I was laughing so hard, you were doing it too nee-chan!"

"Hehe, stop getting all flustered about it Naruto, I'm just messing with you." Anko appeased and ruffled his hair. Both her hands though then cupped her breast and lifted them up a little, as if presenting them to him. "So you noticed right? How do you like them, you can barely tell there's something covering them right? I had to get it custom made because of the colour and to get it to hug by tits just right."

Naruto just blushed at that, and looked away back at the TV. "Yeah, I couldn't see it at all, but... why do you like wearing something like that?"

"Because, it gives me the upper hand when I'm against men, plus it grabs a lot of attention. See, don't you think it works?" Anko said and hugged herself under her breast pushing them up.

Naruto's natural reaction for when someone told him to 'see' was to look, and when he did his head snapped right back to the TV as he blushed.

"HAA! You should have seen the look on your face Naruto." Anko said as she hugged her belly and started laughing uncontrollably.

Naruto started getting angry. "I'M NOT A PERVERT!"

"I know, I know. You had all the chances in the world to grab them but you didn't, and you never stared at them... for long. You were the perfect gentleman Naruto; I was just having some fun is all." Anko praised and then ruffled his hair causing Naruto's pulse to subside. That's when she noticed something. "Hey, when did you take off your forehead protector... I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner."

That's right Naruto's hair was let lose while his symbol, that showed he was a shinobi, was tied around his right arm bicep; the same arm that had the bandages on it. "Oh this? Yeah, I got Hinata's help to tie it there, I did it to remind myself of a promise I made." Naruto said a little fondly, it had happened after his lunch with the heiress.

Anko didn't want to cross the line by asking what the promise was, but she had a wicked grin from the other bit of info. "Hooo, Hinata-chan helped tie it for you? For something that important, she must be really important to you. Is she your special little someone?"

"Yeah she is! She's my first real friend nee-chan!" Naruto happily replied not noticing the hidden message.

The woman just pouted at the tone that told her that they were just that... friends. _"But they looked so cute together..."_

"She's a little weird, but then so are you nee-chan." Naruto, in his own world, complimented.

"I know I'm a little different from everyone else, but you don't have to say it like that Naruto. I'm at least trying to be like everyone else." Anko said a little hurt.

Naruto was confused at her reaction and bolted straight up when he heard that she was trying to act like the others. "No! Don't! I like weird! Don't be like the rest of them, please!"

Anko was caught off guard by the pleading boy, his voice sounded so desperate. "Wh-what do you mean Naruto, I-"

"No! I don't want Anko-nee-chan to hate me too! I don't want you to hate me like everyone else does! I like that you're weird like jiji, Iruka-sensei, Ayame-nee-chan, oyaji and Hinata! Only weird people are nice to me, like you Anko-nee-chan!" The boy shouted in protest as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Naruto, I..." Anko couldn't take it anymore, the look this boy was giving her and his sincerity made her heart feel like it would explode from the guilt. Before he could, the snake summoner lunged forward on top of the boy, and held him in a hug as she cried into his chest. "I-I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry!"

"N-nee-chan, why are you crying!?" Naruto asked as only a few tears had left his own eyes before they stopped from the shock Anko gave him.

"I-I don't d-d-deserve to be called your n-nee-chan Naruto! I'm so sorry!" Anko apologized through uncontrollable sobs.

"What do you mean?"

"I-I was one of th-the ones wh-wh-who helped d-d-destroy your h-home! I-I wanted to f-f-fit in w-with everyone e-else even th-though I felt i-it was wrong! When th-they wanted t-to burn it, I st-stopped helping th-them, b-b-but I didn't st-stop them either! I'm so sorry Naruto!" Anko cried a little harder for a couple of minutes before she continued. "I-I know h-h-how it feels to b-be hated b-b-bye everyone, and th-the fact that I d-did s-s-such a horrible th-thing to someone l-like me is... *sob*... I felt so g-guilty th-that I turned myself in to H-Hokage-sama, and I th-thought I c-c-could make it up t-to you by being nice and make y-you feel better, b-but I found o-out that I-I was j-just t-trying to make myself f-feel better and that made me feel even more g-guilty! A-all I've d-done is m-make y-your life w-worse, I-I don't even d-deserve to be t-treated n-nicely b-bye y-y-you."

"That's not true!" Naruto declared as he cupped both of Anko's cheeks and tilted her head so that she was looking at him. "Were you trying to make yourself happy when you spent so much time picking out my clothes or make me happy!?"

"I-I just w-wanted to g-get y-you something th-that y-you would like." Anko said crying softly now.

"When you left me in the apartment and rushed back down whenever you heard a noise, were you trying to make yourself happy, or were you worried for me?"

"I-I couldn't j-just leave you. If something h-happened to you I-"

"When you got angry and carried me to your place, and made me food, were you trying to make yourself happy, or were you just getting angry because of me?"

"But you had nothing in your place, it wouldn't have been right to just-"

"Then when we were eating and trying to make each other laugh, or laughing while watching a show together, or you teasing me to get a laugh, were you making yourself happy, or where you happy because we were spending time together?"

"B-b-but-"

"Fess up Anko-nee-chan, you like me!" Naruto affirmed with a big grin before he started laughing. He then continued to badger her in a sing song voice. "You like me! You like me! Anko-nee-chan likes me!"

Said woman just blushed before a grin of her own appeared on her face. "So what if I do gaki, what are you going to do about it!?" She argued as she let go of the hug, and put both hands in his hair to relentlessly ruffle it up.

The two laughed while Naruto tried to get out of the attack, but Anko wouldn't let him.

* * *

An old man sighed with a smile on his face as he looked through the crystal ball. _"She's finally back to normal... I was sort of hoping it to last a little longer though."_

With that, the man puffed into smoke and was nowhere in sight.

* * *

[At the Sarutobi household]

"Hey oyaji, why are you smiling?"

"Huh? Oh it's nothing Konohamaru, I just thought of something nice." Sarutobi said to his grandson.

"Well it's going to be your last nice thought as Hokage, because I challenge you to a f-*Bam!*" Konohamaru said before he tripped on his scarf and fell face first onto the hardwood. "Who put a trap down here!?"

"_Oh this is going to be a long night."_

* * *

[Back with Naruto and Anko]

Naruto was lying on the floor out of breath, while Anko was on the couch. The boy had fallen off trying to get away from his assailant.

"Do you really forgive me Naruto? I mean it was your apartment, didn't you have memories there?"

"Yeah... *pant*... I did but there weren't... *pant*... any good ones." The _demon brat_ answered and then looked at Anko with a smile. "So I'll just have to make good ones here... *pants*... like tonight. So I forgive you nee-chan."

Anko just looked at the boy with a smile before she noticed what time it was. "It's getting kind of late; you should start getting ready for bed Naruto. You can use the extra bedroom next to mine."

"Alright nee-chan, I just need to get my things from downstairs and I'll start getting ready." Naruto said as he got up and rushed for the door.

It didn't take him long to grab the couple of bags that were in his apartment, but when he came back, he didn't see anyone. "Nee-chan? Where are you?"

He started walking around the apartment looking for her. When he found an empty bedroom, he dropped his bags and continued on. However, when he got to the next room and pushed the door wide open, he got a full view of Anko in nothing but her black panties. "G-G-G-GOMEN!" Naruto apologized as he slammed the door.

"Hoho that was pretty bold gaki, trying to sneak a peek I see?" Anko provoked behind the door.

"N-No I wasn't! I'm not a pervert!" Naruto shot back with his back leaning against the door as he sat down with a blush. "It was an accident!"

The door suddenly opened causing Naruto to fall backwards onto the ground, and have his head between two feet. Anko just looked down at him with a quirked eyebrow, even though she noticed that he fell before and walked forward a little so he was between her feet. "Oh, I take that back, this is pretty bold."

Naruto scrambled to his feet, and backed up against the wall as he stared the woman in the eyes. "I'm not a pervert, I just lost my balance! And why are you even dressed like that!" The boy countered as he pointed at the woman. She was just wearing black panties and a tank top that seemed a little small since it hugged her tightly and showed a lot of cleavage, including glimpses of the side.

"I always wear this when I go to sleep at home." She casually replied, and then walked over to Naruto. She stopped right in front of him, and then squatted down so that she was head level with his waist before she poked between his legs. "Hmmm, no reaction at all..."

"W-what are you talking about!?" Naruto asked flustered as he moved away from the woman.

"Oh you don't know? But it was so stiff when Hinata-chan was cleaning you." Anko spoke in a teasing voice.

"What was stiff!? And Hinata never c-c-c-cleaned me! Stop talking nonsense nee-chan!"

Anko just ignored it and crossed her arms under her breast before she lifted one hand to cup her cheek in a thinking pose. "But it was so stiff for her, why isn't it stiff for me. Am I losing my touch?" She then got up close to Naruto, and took a pose while speaking in a seductive voice. "Ne Naruto, don't you find nee-chan sexy?"

Naruto's face went red but then he looked away and stormed off. "I'm not a pervert nee-chan! I'm gonna go take a bath now!"

"_Oh I'm not done with you yet. Not until I win." _Anko thought as a devious smirk came on her face.

A couple minutes later

"Why is she always teasing me?" Naruto questioned frustrated as he waited for the bath to get ready. "I'm not a pervert like Iruka-sensei..."

(Achooo!)

"Or jiji..."

(Achooo!)

"Or the other guys in this village."

(ACHOOOOOOOOO! Half the village sneezed)

"Naruto, I'm coming in." Anko warned... as she slid the door open.

"Nee-chan what are you doing in here!?" Naruto said as he jumped into the half filled extremely hot bath to cover himself before he noticed it was too hot. "OUCH!"

"I came to say sorry for teasing you earlier, and to wash your back to make it up to you _Naruto-kun._" Anko said in a sweet voice that was obviously out of character.

"B-but girls and boys shouldn't take baths together." The blonde said, not noticing at all, and covered himself with his hands.

"Don't worry I'm all covered up, I'm wearing a towel see?" Anko pointed out, even though the towel was high on the thigh and showing some cleavage. "Think of it as a nee-chan bathing with her otouto."

"Um... ok." the boy complied a little happy being thought of as a little brother.

"Here." She then tossed the boy a small towel to cover himself up with. "You also forgot to bring in the soap and shampoo, and I prepared a towel for you outside to use."

"Oh... ok, well... thank you... nee-chan."

"It was nothing, now sit and let me clean you before we get into the bath."

Naruto obeyed and sat on the stool near the faucet. Anko soaked his hair before putting some shampoo in her hands and needing his scalp. "How does that feel Naruto?"

"Hmmm... it feels really nice nee-chan." Naruto hummed as he was enjoying the feeling.

"See, doesn't it feel nice to have nee-chan clean you? So just sit back and relax." Anko said as she gently pulled him back so that his head was resting on her chest.

"N-n-nee-chan, what are y-"

"Just relax Naruto, it's perfectly normal..." Anko said in a calm whisper.

Naruto couldn't help the rosy colouring on his cheeks, but he didn't budge. _"I-I've only taken baths by myself, so maybe this is how it's supposed to be done with two people." _He got over it soon, and just relished in the feeling of his scalp being massaged.

Once she was done, Anko rinsed it off and grabbed the bar of soap. "Now I'll clean your back, like a _good_ nee-chan." She said with a little sarcasm that went completely over Naruto's head. Her hand then dangled the bar of soap over her breast and then let it drop. "Whoops, the soap fell inside my towel. Oh no..."

"What's wrong nee-chan?" Naruto asked looking over his shoulder.

"The soap fell between nee-chan's boobies and I can't get it out, can you see it Naruto?" Anko asked as she cupped both breast and pushed them together.

"I-I-I knew you w-were going to try something again nee-chan! I told you I'm not a pervert!" Naruto angrily said.

"But I'm not trying anything Naruto, I really did lose the soap, and now I feel so bad that I can't wash your back." Anko dramatically said in a sad tone which Naruto took as sincere.

"O-Oh... I'm sorry nee-chan for not trusting you..." Naruto said feeling sorry for her a little, and a bit ashamed.

"It's ok Naruto, I forgive you... Ara, look Naruto." The boy complied and once again looked over his shoulder only to see Anko rubbing her breast against each other to create foam. "I'm so happy, I can wash your back now."

"OK that's it!" Naruto objected and stood up, but was brought back down by Anko who held him in a hug.

"Where are you going silly boy, you're not cleaned yet." Anko chided and started to scrub her chest against his back.

A shot of lightning went up the boy's back making him feel a chill before his face turned extremely red. Up and down, up and down, the feeling of wet towel and slippery soft flesh vigorously polished his back.

Naruto could barely handle it anymore and ripped himself away from the hold to stand up and turn around. "What the HELL are you doing nee-chan!?" Naruto questioned as he started fuming.

"Finally!" Anko joyfully declared. "I thought it would never get hard."

"Hard? What are you talking about nee-chan!?" The woman only pointed at the tent of a towel between his legs. "What the hell!? What happened? What did you do to me nee-chan!?"

"That Naruto is called a boner. It's something that happens naturally to guys once they hit puberty."

"Well how do I fix it!? How do I get it back to normal!?"

"You really want me to show you?"

"Yes! Just tell me!"

"Alright." Anko then walked Naruto over to the shower head. "Brace yourself."

She turned on the cold water, and let it rain down on the boy. "It's freezing!" Naruto complained as he jumped out of water's path.

"You want it to get back to normal right?"

The boy just glared at her before looking at the water and stepping into it. His body started shivering from the relentless downpour... that is until he felt something warm embrace him from behind. "N-nee-chan?" He asked confused as he looked up at the woman.

"It's not so bad when someone's holding you. Does this feel better Naruto?" The boy only nodded, and Anko let out a sigh. "Gomen Naruto, I know it's a little childish of me but I had to do it. You know... I'm a tokubetsu jounin, but do you know what I specialize in?"

Naruto just shook his head not knowing the answer. "Torture. I couldn't help but tease you when you showed me that funny face after dinner, but when you saw me naked and I didn't see a reaction from the little guy down there... My pride as a kunoichi took a serious shot. It's one of my special tools. If I can't even get a hormonally unbalanced teen to think that I'm sexy, I feel as if I failed at being a ninja."

"I'm not a pervert..." Naruto whispered as he took in the information. "But nee-chan is really beautiful and nice... any guy would think your gorgeous nee-chan..."

Anko blushed at the sweet words and happily grinned before squeezing Naruto in a tighter hug. "You're so sweet Naruto; you'll definitely catch a bunch of girls with that smooth talk." Anko said laughing a little bit. The boy just blushed at the compliment, and enjoyed the feeling of someone actually embracing him. "Hey, looks like it's back to normal."

"It really worked!" Naruto said surprised.

"So how about you finish cleaning yourself off, and we take a nice dip in the bath. I promise this time that I won't try anything. Ok?"

With untrusting eyes, the boy stared down the woman until he felt like she was telling the truth. "Alright... nee-chan."

When the two had entered the tiled bath, they let their body's relax for a few minutes... but it soon turned into a splashing match between the two, both laughing like little kids as they did.

Naruto left the bath first since Anko still hadn't cleaned herself yet, and he didn't want to be around for when she took off her towel. Finding the prepared towel, he quickly dried himself off, got his cloths back on, and went to bed.

Seven minutes later, the door opened to show Anko, back in her tank top and panty, to wish him a goodnight, which Naruto replicated back to her. Now he was ready to go off to dreamland. However one hour later he was rudely awakened by the sound of the fridge door slamming shut.

Footsteps could be heard walking back into the hallway and coming ever closer to his door. _"It's probably nee-chan checking to see if I'm still asleep. I should act like I'm still sleeping." _Naruto surmised when the door opened.

More steps were heard getting closer to him, and Naruto couldn't help but look over his shoulder when she got to the bed. "Nee-chan?" he whispered before he noticed that her eyes were closed and her posture was a little loose. _"Is she sleepwalking?"_

The zombie like person then lifted up the covers to let herself in, and she snuggled up behind Naruto, spooning him, as she draped an arm over his waste to hold him tight like a teddy bear. "Goodnight otouto..." She mumbled in her sleep.

Naruto blushed when he heard the little brother word again, but made no movement because he didn't want to wake up the sleepwalker. _"Well I guess she's a sleep sleeper now... agh, what did I get myself into..."_

* * *

Next Chapter: Injustice

A/N: T.T... I'm very depressed. All I had was less than 300 hits for my first chapter... usually I got 1.5k-2.5k hits in the first two days for the first chapters of the other two stories I put out. It makes me wonder if I did a horrible job, and if I should just give up...

Well for now, I'll see how this one goes, and then post up the third chapter that's almost done in a couple of days, and if I feel like people don't like it... I'll stop I guess T.T (feels sort of pointless to write if there's not that many people reading it, let alone like it.)

Well to whoever did read this, I hope you enjoyed it =)


	3. Injustice

Do not be concerned, this will not be a hanyou fic (thank god)

Disclaimer: Your mother owns Naruto, believe it! Nah, I'm just kidding, Kishimoto owns Naruto... your mother just owns Kishimoto.

* * *

Chapter 3: Injustice

"So they passed your test eh Kakashi?"

"Mah, they were a little ruff at first, but they smoothed out a little eventually. They're the first group to do so." Kakashi replied giving Sarutobi a U shaped eye smile.

"Good good, I was guessing they would, but it's nice to make it official." The Hokage said after he took the pipe out of his mouth. "Now that you've accepted them, there's something I'd like to discuss with you about Naruto."

When Kakashi heard the serious tone of his leader, he instantly gave the man his full attention.

"Do you remember the incident a couple nights ago with Naruto stealing the forbidden scroll?"

"Hai Hokage-sama, it was found out that the traitor Mizuki had used him. I assume it's how the boy learned kage bunshin no jutsu even though he's just a fresh genin."

"Yes well, there was one other jutsu he learned in that scroll, a jutsu that Minato-kun wanted him to learn when he was older and stronger."

"What jutsu is that Hokage-sama?"

"Katsu hakke bunshin..."

"I've never even heard of a jutsu like that."

"That's because no one knew it besides me, Minato, and now Naruto. A few nations have developed jutsu or programs for their jinchuriki to learn how to fully control the chakra of their tailed beast. This jutsu was developed to train Naruto to fully control the Kyubi's chakra."

Kakashi's lone eye widened at that. "How can it do that?"

"It creates one full flesh and blood clone that has half of a person's 8 trigrams inside it. Basically it's like making someone that is the complete opposite of you, while it is still yourself. In Naruto's case, it splits him from the Kyubi."

"The Kyubi!? Sensei made something so danger-"

"The Kyubi is the Yin to Naruto's Yang, Minato made sure of it with the seal he used on him. Therefore, when the Kyubi is out, it is only equal in strength to Naruto in terms of his body, and both their chakra are divided evenly between the two. No more, no less. So it can't use all its chakra to start rampaging around like before."

"I don't understand Hokage, what's the purpose of taking such a big risk like this."

"Should Naruto defeat the Kyubi he will gain more and more access to its chakra at his will, rather than the fox's. Although he only gets a little bit after each time, but eventually he could gain control of it all. However, should the Kyubi beat Naruto... I don't know what would happen. It could become free, or it could take over Naruto. There were a lot of things we couldn't test out ourselves."

"But Naruto can't possibly beat it, it's the Kyubi and he's just a green genin."

"He's already beaten her once."

Kakashi was speechless, he didn't know which to question first, how Naruto defeated the Kyubi... or if Kyubi was really a girl.

"Although I believe he caught her off guard because she underestimated him. From what it sounds like, he tried to forcibly open the first celestial gate... or at least replicate it, and was able to give her a good hit. Unfortunately, he's never physically trained himself well enough to withstand such a thing, and he almost destroyed his own body doing it."

"Hokage-sama why are you telling me all this, as long as Naruto never uses that jutsu again, shouldn't it be fine?"

"I wish it was just as simple as that Kakashi, but since he already used it once, the Kyubi will now be able to forcibly come out whenever the boy's emotions are severely unbalanced. That is why I am telling you this. I want you to keep an eye on him... should the Kyubi ever come out; I want you to protect Naruto at all costs."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

"Oh there is one more thing... the Kyubi has the sharingan." Sarutobi informed and waited for the shock to pass through the jounin in front of him. "She only has two tomoes in each eye now, but I believe as Naruto gets stronger, so will it. It's one of the reasons why I chose you to be his sensei Kakashi."

"I... I understand."

"Good. Also if you haven't already noticed, certain abilities that the Kyubi uses will also be granted to Naruto should he defeat her it seems, such as a boost in certain senses. I had him checked by the doctors, and they said that chakra was unconsciously being directed to the nose, ears, and eyes, so with a little bit of training he could improve on them. For now though, they're just slightly better than normal."

"_So that's why he was able to notice me behind him... I wondered why he was able to dodge my sennen goroshi." _Kakashi deduced. "I'll be sure to give him a couple of pointers Hokage-sama."

"See that you do, you're dismissed."

* * *

[Training ground 7]

"_I passed! I'm finally a real shinobi!" _Naruto thought to himself while lying on the ground staring up at the clouds.

His team had gone to do their personal things, his stomach was hungry because he hadn't had breakfast, and his teammates ate the rest of the food for themselves after Kakashi went to the Hokage's office. They just left him tied to the log kicking and screaming, but he eventually broke loose. _"Stupid teme, what does everyone see in him anyway? Sure he's a little stronger than me, but is that the only reason why Sakura-chan likes him?"_

He would have wallowed in this line of thought until a familiar scent reached his nose. _"Hinata!" _He quickly sat up and scanned the area, only to find her just entering the clearing with three other people. _"How did I smell her from here?... I guess it was a breeze or something."_

The boy ran up to the group while waving his arm. "Oi, Hinata!"

"_N-Naruto-kun!?" _Hinata thought surprised, and gave a slight bow out of nervousness when he was in front of her. "H-h-hello N-Naruto-kun."

"Wow, I didn't think I'd see you today. I guess I'm pretty lucky." Naruto cheerfully said before his stomach growled causing a little dog to bark back at it. "Hehe sorry about that, Kakashi sensei told us to not eat anything this morning until we finished the survival test."

A sigh came from the older woman in the group. "I see, so Kakashi failed another team." Kurenai said in a disappointed yet irritated voice. _"Will he ever take on some responsibilities?"_

"Hehe well it's expected for the dead last, only a third of people pass because they want the best shinobi around, like our team." A canine like boy said as he smugly pointed to himself.

"My team passed too dog breath!" Naruto shot back to the over confident dog owner. Then, like a light bulb turning on, Naruto noticed something, and placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Hey, congratulations Hinata, I knew you'd pass!"

"Th-thank you N-N-N-Naruto-kun, c-congratulations as w-well." Hinata replied with a deep blush from the contact she was getting, but didn't shy away from it.

Kurenai just looked at the interaction and was surprised by Hinata's reaction. _"So this is the Kyubi child that caused such a raucous a couple of nights ago. I've only heard bad rumours about him but he was able to pass Kakashi's test... it seems like I'll have to keep an eye on him to see whether or not he'll be a bad influence on Hinata like Kiba was trying to be this morning."_

"Thanks a lot Hinata, so why are you guys here anyways?" Naruto asked as he started walking along with them.

Kurenai had explained that she wanted to show her students the memorial stone. After Naruto had heard a similar speech for the second time today, he started asking all the members of team 8 about how their test was like, and what some of the more memorable moments were. Kiba was all too quick to brag, except when Shino pointed out his blunders, but all in all it was a pleasant chat.

Hinata was surprised though by how easily Naruto talked with her team. _"He's speaking to them so naturally, even to Shino-san, and isn't afraid of what he says. I wish I could be more like Naruto-kun." _She admired until her thoughts were interrupted.

"Is that true Hinata? You're really great aren't you?" Naruto complimented after he got some information out of Shino.

"E-eh?" Hinata asked confused before Kurenai continued the story.

"Yes, out of all of them she was pretty close to catching me on her own." Kurenai divulged to the group. _"I'll have to make the test a bit harder next time."_

Hinata didn't even know that, but it raised her confidence greatly when she heard Naruto's praise added to it. _"H-he thinks I'm g-great! I thought I did horribly during the test."_

The test was a simple scouting mission. Kurenai would hide herself within the village after placing a few different types of genjutsu on her students to hinder their senses. The rules were the first two to find her pass, but that was a lie because they required the combined senses of each other to locate her which involved teamwork.

"Alright that's it for today. All of you can go home and rest now. I expect you to be at training ground 21 tomorrow at 7 pm for practice, and then we'll start our first mission as a team afterwards. Dismissed." Kurenai commanded and then disappeared in a swirl of cherry blossom petals.

"Well then, Hinata-san, Kiba-san, Naruto-san, I'll be heading towards my residence at this point in time. Why is that you ask? It's because I need to allow my kikaichu to rest and replenish their strength. Please enjoy the rest of your afternoon; I will be going on now." Shino stated in his monotone voice as he started walking away.

And now there were three... plus a dog.

Kiba thought this was his chance, and stepped forward to the heiress. "Hey Hinata-chan, do you want to go a-"

"N-N-Naruto-kun, please a-accept this!" Hinata nervously said, not even paying attention to Kiba, after she gathered as much courage as she could, and offered the boy a small container.

"What is it?" Naruto asked as he took it out of her soft hands.

"I-It's a s-s-s-salve that I m-made. It's g-good for cuts, b-bruises, and m-muscle aches. I th-thought, because of y-y-yesterday, that i-it would be u-useful for y-you."

"You mean this is the same cream thingy you used on my hand yesterday?" The blonde asked and got a nod in reply. "Wow you made that? It worked so well, after we ate, my hand was completely fine, thanks a lot Hinata."

At the memory of food, Naruto's stomach growled once more, and he blushed while scratching the back of his head. "Hehe, you hungry Hinata, because I'm starving. Want to go grab a bite to eat?" Naruto offered causing Kiba to slightly grind his teeth.

"_First he gets all friendly with her, then he gets a gift from her, and now he's inviting her to lunch!?" _Kiba angrily thought and then stepped in before Hinata replied. "I'll join you guys too. I'm a little hungry myself."

"Um... sure? You're a part of Hinata's team so why not?" Naruto responded, surprised Kiba wanted to come. "So do you want to come, Hinata?"

"H-hai." She stuttered, and then walked along side Naruto before Kiba entered the middle separating the two. _"I-I wish it was just me and Naruto-kun."_

20 minutes later

The three had made it back to Konoha sooner than expected. Along the way though, Kiba did try to walk close to Hinata and even attempted putting his hand on Hinata's waist to help _lead_. However, quickly noticing the girl's uneasiness around the dog owner, Naruto five-star'd him and told the rest to pick up the pace as if it were a pat on the back.

All three were headed towards the direction of a familiar stand until one member of the group realized it. "Hey Naruto, you weren't thinking of getting some ramen were you? Isn't it a little boring every day? Let's try this place." Kiba suggested with a knowing smirk.

"Oh, um... alright." Naruto hesitated deviating from his path, but reluctantly complied with one thought through his head. _"He's a part of Hinata's team, so I have to try and be friends with him or at least get him to like me so I don't cause any problems for Hinata if I want to stay her friend."_

It was one of the reasons why he chatted up with her team earlier. If Hinata was a part of their team, then getting along with one's teammates is best for teamwork, but if their impression of her was in any way lowered because she was friends with the _demon brat_, he would feel mortified.

"N-N-Naruto-kun, you d-don't h-have to e-"

"Alright let's go!" Kiba declared, and walked into the restaurant with Naruto following close behind him.

When all three were inside, they were quickly seated because of the Hyuuga in their company, and their orders were quickly taken. Although, Naruto was slowly starting to get the majority of the eyes within the place on him as people informed others of his presence in the establishment. Even the person taking his order couldn't help but slightly glare at the boy.

This type of environment would make anyone feel anxious, but Naruto just held up his mask and acted as if it were nothing.

"_N-Naruto-kun..." _Hinata thought concerned.

Meals soon arrived, with the exception of one. Naruto just encouraged the other two to carry on and not worry about his food by saying things like, "It'll be here soon." Or "I'm sure they're just making it extra tasty." Without a second thought, the Inuzuka quickly dug into the large piece of meat on his plate, but Hinata had instantly offered her plate which Naruto declined saying that it wasn't right to take her plate even though his stomach growled once more.

The heiress was a little less motivated as she just idly poked at the food now. _"I won't have a bite until Naruto-kun has. It's not fair for me to eat, while he waits..."_

Kiba's plate was almost done now, and the pressure coming from the crowd seemed to finally affect the blonde. _"I can't take it anymore." _He got out of his seat, and spoke, in his regular voice, before walking to a small hallway. "I need to go use the little boy's room."

"_Naruto-kun... is he going to come back?..." _Hinata worried as her hands were now gripping her knees, and she couldn't help but to stare off in the direction the village outcast left in.

"Finally, we're away from that moron! So what do you want to do af-... Hinata!" Kiba called out as the girl got up as well from her seat and ran for the back exit. There were veins bulging around her eyes, she knew exactly where Naruto was.

"Wait!" Kiba yelled as he got up, but was stopped in his place by the waitress handing him the bill. He tsk'd but got out his wallet, and then looked at it. _"What the hell!? They're charging me Naruto's food as well? I don't have that much on me." _The boy thought as he broke out into a cold sweat. He then looked up at the woman and nervously chuckled. "Hehe, do you take I.O.U's?"

From the look on her face, she didn't, and he knew he wasn't going to get out of here for a while.

* * *

[Outside in the back alleys of the restaurant]

"_Shit! What the hell was I thinking! I just made a complete ass of myself! Hinata thinks I'm a big loser now, she probably won't be my friend anymore..." _Naruto presumed as he walked down the unpopulated tiny path to reach the main street. His stomach growled once more, and he lightly groaned because of it. _"Shut up, this is all your fault. Argh, stupid, stupid, STUPID!"_

"Naruto-kun?..." Said boy stopped in his tracks at the sound of the voice, and slowly turned his head around to see Hinata a few meters away from him.

Scratching the back of his head and putting on a fox like smile, Naruto composed himself before speaking. "Hehe, sorry to worry you, I just needed some fresh air. You should go back before your food gets c-"

"I-I want ramen!" Hinata proclaimed startling the blonde with the volume coming out of her.

The boy just stared at her, trying to absorb the information, and when he did, his eyes lit up. "Really!? Cause I know this great ramen place, it's the best! You're gonna love it!" Naruto excitedly said as he rushed to Hinata's side, grabbed her hand, and started running to the place.

It didn't take long for them to get there, and Hinata was blushing the whole way. Naruto on the other hand was drooling as soon as he smelled the pot of delicious ramen ever since they were half way to their destination. When they sat down, Ayame greeted Naruto and gave Hinata a knowing smile before taking their orders.

When their bowls came, the two started talking, mostly Naruto, but he was purposely trying to say things for her to give her opinion on, or try and start talking about herself a little. Hinata just had the one bowl but was happy that the blonde was eating so much because it gave her more time to be with him. _"I-I'm actually talking to Naruto-kun just like a friend would, I'm glad he's asking so many questions. I was so afraid; I didn't know what to talk about at all."_

Naruto normally ate three to four large bowls when he came to eat, so when Ayame and Teuchi heard he wanted six, they knew he must have skipped a meal. However what surprised them was how slow he was eating the last one. _"Naruto... slow... eating ramen... something has to be wrong."_

The boy ended up staring at his bowl before he sighed and talked in a low voice. "I'm sorry Hinata... you left the restaurant because of me right?" When he didn't hear her deny it, he just tightened his grip on his chopsticks. "I'm so stupid. I should have just stayed. You were eating with one of your teammates too, and because of me y-"

"I-I didn't leave b-because you left N-Naruto-kun, but I d-did l-l-leave because of y-you." The heiress interrupted getting the _demon child'_s attention. "Th-they shouldn't h-have treated y-you like that. If you d-didn't leave, I-I-I would have m-made you Naruto-kun."

"B-but what if you want to eat something else. I'm not allowed in almost everywhere, I can't take you to those places, and you're not like me, you can't eat ramen every time we want to have lunch togeth-"

"Th-th-then I'll c-c-cook you something m-m-m-myself!" Hinata stated out loud with a cherry coloured face. "I-I'll make y-you anything you w-w-w-want N-Naruto-kun, and it'll b-be better than a-any restaurant's f-food that n-no one else c-can try b-but you."

"Wouldn't your family get mad though if you used their stuff to make me food?"

"Th-then I'll j-just go t-to your h-house and cook f-for you th-th-there!" Hinata spoke in a higher voice as she stood up from her seat not wanting to take 'no' for an answer.

"Y-you'd come to my place... to cook for me?" Naruto asked not believing what he heard; somebody actually wanted to come to his home. Not because of duty, or to check up on him, but to actually come over... not to mention cook.

"H-hai..." Hinata quietly said when she collected herself.

"Awesome! I get to try Hinata's cooking again! Oh wait... shit I forgot that my apartment burned down." Naruto spoke more to himself, but that didn't stop the other three people in the area to hear.

"What!?" All three shouted, and Ayame reached over the counter, grabbed the boy's shirt and shook vigorously. "What do you mean your apartment burned down!? Who did this to you, when did it happen, where are you staying, why didn't you tell us sooner!? This better be just another one of your stupid jokes Naruto!!"

"Ayame-nee-chan, calm down, calm down; let me explain." Naruto tried to appease the troubled teen. He then told them that the Hokage had dealt with the criminals who did it already, and even gotten him a brand-new place. They were worried again though when they found out that he had nothing in it, but he quickly tried to ease their minds with the fact that he was staying over at Anko's place. "Anko-nee-chan is really nice to me. We like telling jokes to each other, and she even picked out these cool new cloths for me. She said that I could even stay in her place for a year if I had to, but I don't want to bother her, so I'll try to get my place ready in a month if possible... she'll probably let me bring you over though if I ask Hinata, she seems to know you."

Hinata just blushed when she remembered what she was doing the first time she met Anko.

"Oh yeah that reminds me, I need to do some shopping. I've only got a few pairs of clothes and they all look like this." Naruto said as he looked down at his attire. "Hey Hinata, can you tell me what kind of stuff I need to get for a kitchen? I sort of just microwaved or boiled all my stuff before."

"I-I-If you want N-Naruto-kun... I-I could come w-with you..." Hinata shyly offered not able to look in the direction of the boy when she spoke. _"H-how can all these problems happen to someone like Naruto-kun... any one of the things that happened to him in the last 3 days would make anyone feel hopeless, but he faces them head on as if their nothing... I just want to make it a little easier on him, even if it's something small; I want to make his life better..."_

"That would help SO much, thanks Hinata! You want to go now?" Naruto asked and got a nod in response. The two then paid their bills and went to a more shopping oriented district. "Hey look a furniture store. I've never bought my own furniture before... is it alright with you if we take a look inside first? I just want to see what kind of stuff they have."

"O-Ok." Hinata agreed, and walked into the large store with him. After scanning the area, the girl looked to Naruto on where to begin. "Wh-what do you w-want to l-look at first?"

"You know... I've always been sleeping in these tiny beds, but the ones at nee-chan's place are pretty big and comfortable. I really want to get a big one of my own. Let's go there first." Naruto eagerly said as he made his way over to the mattress section. When he saw the large selection, he quickly jumped on the biggest one in the place. "Aww man this feels good... Hey Hinata, come up here and try this."

"Y-y-y-y-you w-want m-m-m-me t-to c-come i-into b-b-b-bed w-with y-y-y-you?" Hinata stuttered and blushed redder than the blood coming out of Kakashi's nose as he approached the beginning of the first sex scene in his new Icha Icha.

* * *

"_Sawako lowered herself until Kazehaya's throbbing member was at the entrance of her maidenhood. 'Are you sure about this?' Kazehaya asked... it was their first time, but he didn't want to push her and scare her off. 'H-Hai.' She softly said and began t-_ACHOOOOO!!" After recuperating from the nasal irritation, a lone eye widened at the bloody damage that had been done. "No... no, no...NO... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The grown man, feared by many ninja throughout the world, was now in the fetal position crying while holding the book to his chest. "What did I... *sob*... do... *sniff* to deserve... *whimper*... this? Why Kami-sama...*sob*... why! She was so... *snort*... young and innocent... *sob*... and so was the character."

* * *

[Back with Hinata and Naruto]

"Of course! It's good to get another person's opinion on big things you want to buy right? I don't want to miss something and then have to live with a crappy bed for years." Naruto explained and then pat the spot beside him.

"_I-If it's to help N-Naruto-kun." _Hinata told herself as she hesitantly climbed onto the mattress. When she got beside the blonde, her eyes scrunched closed and she stayed as stiff as possible to stop the shaking. _"I'm in bed... with Naruto... just the two of us... IN BED..."_

"So how do you like it?" Naruto inquired as he turned on his side facing her and propped his head up with one hand.

"I-I-I-It's v-very c-c-c-comfortable." Hinata tried to say clearly but her nervousness got in the way.

"I know right? It's so soft, I feel like I could sleep on this all week. Don't you?"

* * *

[Inside Hinata's head]

"Captain, Captain, emergency!" A Chibi Hinata yelled as it burst through a door.

"EEP! God damn it! Can't you see I'm on the toilet right now?" The captain said as she covered herself a little with a hand.

"Sorry captain, but Naruto-kun has-"

"Argh, all I hear about is Naruto this, and Naruto that. Because of that little good looking asshole, I've had so much stress I've gone constipated. Well I'm done, I don't want to hear another thing about Naruto-kun again, let someone else take care of the problem."

"But captain, he-"

"No! I don't want to hear it."

"But-"

"No."

"He-"

"Nah ah."

"She's-in-bed-with-Naruto-kun-right-now,-and-he-just-asked-if-she'd-like-to-sleep-in-for-a-week!"

Just then, the captain's bowels emptied at once, causing her to hunch over from the surprise exertion. "Oh god...*hugh*... I can't even... *huh*... take a dump... *ugh*... without that hot teasing fucker...*swallow*... doing something stupid again."

* * *

"_Sleep... in bed... with Naruto-kun... for a WEEK!" _Hinata thought as her face flushed from just the idea of it. "H-h-h-hai."

"Hey Hinata, I didn't notice till now, but your face is really red, do you have a fever?" Naruto asked as he put a hand on her forehead.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I f-fine N-Naru-"

"Hey monster! Get your hands off the girl!" A man complained as he grabbed Naruto by the back of his collar and forcefully pulled him off the bed to the floor.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out to the boy in concern hoping he was ok.

"You saw that right everyone? He tried to hurt that little girl over there and take advantage of her." Two other men agreed with the man, and they all surrounded the boy. "Let's teach him a lesson on how to treat a lady."

* * *

With his book now ruined, Kakashi was forced back into reality, and he couldn't help himself from thinking about the little test he gave out earlier today. _"The Uchiha really surprised me with that katon jutsu, but I think the most surprising thing was Naruto's fighting style... he was able to use strength and speed that he didn't have in such odd movements and in a small amount of space..."_

* * *

The first punch was made by one of the men, and Naruto made to punch as well. _"Heh, too slow." _The man thought as his fist connected with Naruto's chest, causing the boy to skid back from the force until he hit a wall. The large man caught up to him, but when he did, the boy's palm shot out to hit the man in the chin, however from the limited space it wasn't hard enough and only half extended.

"You thought you could hurt me with your little hands de-!?" The man asked as he pushed against the hand with his chin, but then was pushed off his feet when Naruto slammed his foot on the ground and put his other hand under his elbow to add to the attack.

He fell hard on his back, with the wind knocked out of him, but could still move. While he recovered, another man came to take his place.

* * *

"_It was kind of like he was used to fighting opponents bigger than him... well that's probably because he's got a small body... everyone is bigger than him..."_

* * *

This man came in for a hook, but before he made contact, Naruto gave a hard low kick before taking the hit to the head. Even though there was pain shooting up his leg, the man was happy he hit the kid in the head. _"Hehe, got you, you de- wha!" _It was short lived as the burning feeling in his legs was too strong, and he kneeled down not able to take the strain.

Naruto recovered from the hit... as if it happened to him every day by an angry shrieking bitch... and kicked the vulnerable man in between the legs before using the same leg to knee him in the head.

The last of the trio came in with a surprise kick to Naruto's side. His body slid from the power that knocked him down to the floor, but he got right back up to defend himself as the man ran towards him.

* * *

"_He seemed to use everything he could around him to give him a little extra help... even my own attacks, and prepares an attack to go with it."_

* * *

Once more the man kicked the boy, but this time Naruto was getting ready to make a punch as he was beginning to take a step.

"_Cheh, you're not going to reach me with tha-" _When the man kicked, the blonde's other arm came up to cut its path short. The push was strong, but Naruto just transferred the energy to his, still in movement, leg, and stomped it to the ground. His entire body tensed from the force shooting up it, and used it in his free fist.

The man didn't even see the attack, all he felt was the pain in his solar plex and Naruto's fist that was now in front of him. He collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

* * *

"_It sort of reminds me of sensei's fighting style, but completely different... too bad he doesn't know how to use it well."_

* * *

Naruto heard a step, and could only look over his shoulder in time to see the first man he fought about to punch his back. Naruto fell hard to the ground, and groaned as he turned over. However the sight he witnessed next was the raised leg of the man, about to do an axe kick... but it never came.

Someone's kick connected to the back of the supporting leg's knee, and caused the man to lose balance, making his head hit the railing of one of the beds on display.

When the body moved out of the way, Naruto saw Hinata there looking towards the man a little concerned after she heard the loud sound of skull hitting metal. With all attackers temporarily incapacitated, the village outcast decided to take this chance to get up and grab the heiress's hand as he ran out of the building.

Once outside, Naruto made a couple of clones, before deciding on a hiding place. "Let's go in there!" The two ran into a civilian clothing store, and hid behind a couple of manikins. They peered out the window to see their attackers come out of the building and start chasing the clones in different directions.

The blonde sighed when the coast was cleared, and then looked towards his companion. "Thanks a lot Hinata, you really helped me th-"

"A-Are you ok? Where are you hurt? Is anything broken?" Hinata franticly asked as she got up close to Naruto and checked over his body.

Naruto just grabbed the girl by the shoulders to get her to stop so that he could calm her down. "I'm fine Hinata, a little sore, but it doesn't even bother me. Let's just continue what we were doing, I need some new clothes anyways."

"B-but what if they c-come back?"

"Don't worry, I made a couple extra clones to go find the old man, he'll take care of them. Plus the ones that they're chasing are running towards the Hokage tower, so it's like I'm handing them to jiji." Naruto replied as he laughed.

"_H-he thought that far ahead?" _Hinata thought a little surprised, but started giggling herself along with Naruto.

Naruto just stopped and stared at Hinata when she did. "Wow... you have a really nice laugh Hinata." Naruto complimented as he looked at her in interest.

The shy girl just blushed, and stopped her laughing. "Th-th-thank you N-Naruto-kun."

"Aww you stopped, no fun. I'll have to make you laugh again some other time..." Naruto light-heartedly complained as he got into a thinking pose.

"D-didn't you s-s-say you n-needed new clothes N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata tried diverting his attention away from her. _"I-I'm scared to laugh now in front of Naruto-kun. What if that one time was just a fluke, and when I laugh again he thinks it's really horrible! No, no, no! I can't let that happen!"_

"Huh, oh yeah! I really need to find something to sleep in at night." Naruto said to himself as he started perusing the merchandise. It didn't take long for him to pick out some t-shirts, sweats, and two pairs of PJs, including a nightcap, but when he came around to picking out some boxers, he was confused as to why Hinata moved to the other end of the store. Shrugging his shoulders, he carried the large pile to the cash register.

The woman behind the counter started scanning the articles of clothing until she made the pile small enough that she was able to see who was behind it. "We don't serve your kind around here. Now leave the store before I have you arrested for trespassing."

Naruto just glared at the woman as he started to get angry. _"First the restaurant, then the furniture store, and now this? This shit is getting old fast!" _Naruto mentally shouted and was about to tell the woman off before Hinata cut in.

"I-I'm the one b-buying those clothes. N-Naruto-kun was just h-helping me." Hinata lied as she walked up to the counter.

The woman tensed when she noticed it was a Hyuuga, but looked from Hinata, to the clothes, and then back to Hinata. "You... want to buy these, _miss _Hyuuga?"

"H-hai, i-it's a gift for my c-cousin. I d-didn't know wh-what boys l-liked to w-wear, so Naruto-kun o-offered his help. A-are you g-going to deny a member o-of the Hyuuga clan f-from your s-store as well?" Hinata asked as she fixed her own glare on the woman.

"N-no I w-would never..." The woman was too scared to finish her sentence, and just looked down at the counter as she silently continued scanning.

"Pst." Naruto whispered to get Hinata's attention. He then handed a thick envelop to her while the woman wasn't looking.

Hinata was confused until she grabbed it, and took a look inside to see if her guess was right. _"Wh-where did he get all this money!?"_

"W-will there be anything e-else Hyuuga-san?" The clerk asked after she displayed the amount.

"...No." Hinata answered, and then handed the woman the money required.

"Th-thank you for shopping here Hyuuga-san, please come again." The woman said after she bagged the clothes.

"Doubtful..." Hinata whispered more to herself, but was still heard by the clerk she guessed since the woman flinched.

Once Naruto grabbed the bags, the two left the store.

"Hahaha, did you see the look on her face Hinata? Oh that was classic. I can't believe you lied for me, you're an awesome friend."

"Ah, no... I-I was just... sh-she shouldn't have t-t-treated you that w-way, s-so I..."

"Thanks Hinata." Naruto said with a soft smile. The heiress's response was to look down at her feet, with a blush, whispering 'y-you're welcome' and continue walking along with Naruto. The boy then sighed and thought out loud. "But man I took a glimpse at the price of that mattress, I can't believe it costs so much to buy just one... It's probably gonna cost a fortune to get the rest of the stuff too... the cash that jiji gave me is a lot, but I'll have to at least double it to get the things I want... Hey Hinata, do you know what kind of missions we'll be doing tomorrow?"

"N-no"

"I hope I get to guard a princess or a daimyo, or maybe they'll let me guard a year's worth of ramen... oh no wait, I'd fail that mission." Naruto joked, smiling when he saw Hinata trying to hold back a laugh but was failing every now and then.

"I-I don't th-think they-..." The shy girl stopped mid sentence when a heavenly fragrance reached her nose, and she looked to the side for the source. She shook her head to get a thought out of it. _"What am I thinking about? I can't have that now... I'm with Naruto-kun."_

Said blonde had followed the girl's line of sight when she turned her head away towards a bakery specializing in cinnamon rolls. "Ohhh, so Hinata likes those kinds of things... you want one?"

"Eh?..." Hinata intelligently asked, but then saw the blonde put his hands into a seal.

"**Oiroke no jutsu!" **When the puff of smoked cleared, Naruko came out with the same clothes as Naruto, but since she was taller, it looked small and tight on her while exposing her abdomen and past her knees. "Watch this Hinata."

"N-N-N-N-Naruto-kun I-I-I'm n-not w-worth-..." Hinata's objection was lost on Naruko as she already made her way over to the bakery. _"Wh-why is he doing this?"_

"_Alright Naruto... act sexy, act sexy! Think of Anko-nee-chan." _Naruko thought as she got up to the stand. She leaned against the counter so that half her chest was pushed up against it. "Wow, these rolls look so tasty. They're so big, round, and moist... I bet they just melt in your mouth."

The owner of the stand couldn't help but stare at the large pair squished against his countertop as Naruko said what he thought... about her breast. "Y-yeah, our cinnamon boobs-I mean rolls, are famous in Konoha. I make it myself."

"Oooh, I'd love to get one, but every time I eat sweets I gain so much weight, but I can never tell where it goes to." Naruko said as she backed up a little for the man to see while she acted like she was looking at herself. "My oka-san won't give me any money anymore too because I just spend it on sweets. She says that I'll resemble a cow... do you think I look like a cow oji-san?"

The man was now drooling at the sight of her, but quickly tried to compose himself a little. "N-no, I don't think you look like a cow."

"Ah, I knew it; you do think I'm fat oji-san. I know I can't hide it, I can tell I'm getting bigger because my shirt gets tighter and tighter from all the fat. You're so mean oji-san, I can't believe you lied to me." Naruko faked cried, but it was still able to make the man anxious.

"S-sorry, sorry ojou-chan. Here, why don't you have a cinnamon roll?"

"B-but I don't have any money."

"That's fine, it's on the house."

"Ah! Arigato, you're so nice oji-san!" Naruko thanked as she took the pastry from the man, and then jumped up and down. The shaking had caused a torrent of blood to come out the man's nose. _"Hehe, baka hentai."_

Once he was back to Hinata, Naruto changed back to his normal self, and presented the roll to the girl. "Tada!"

"N-Naruto-kun, y-you didn't have to d-do th-that for me."

"It's just a thank you present for the medicine you gave me today, and for coming along with me to help me shop. I know it's not much, but please enjoy it Hinata."

"N-no i-it's actually v-v-very thoughtful N-Naruto-kun. Th-th-thank you." Hinata said with a blush, and accepted the cinnamon roll. _"H-he's so sweet."_

"Why don't we sit over there? It's not good to walk and eat, plus I think we could use a break." Naruto suggested as he pointed to a bench. When they finally sat down on it, Naruto paid attention to Hinata's face for the first time since he gave her the pastry, hoping to see how she liked it, but saw how she had an incredibly hungry look for it. _"Is that how I look like when I have ramen in front of me?"_

Ripping up pieces of it, Hinata slowly placed it in her small mouth as she savoured the taste. Bite by bite, piece by piece, Naruto was entranced by the way Hinata ate the large roll. Every now and then, her tongue would come out to lick her lips, and for some reason Naruto followed the path with his eyes. When a dab of frosting got on her face, she would wipe it with her finger before sucking it clean, and Naruto would let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

With one piece left, Hinata licked the frosting off with the tip of her tongue before she stuck the rest in her mouth, and closed eyes as she slowly chewed. With no more pieces left, she began to slowly lick her fingers clean, and then suck on them one by one to make sure she got all the frosting and cinnamon. "Mmhmmm delicious." Hinata dreamily said after letting out a sigh of satisfaction. She then looked over to Naruto to see what he was doing, and when she saw the now red faced boy staring at her, she had to overt her face when she realized something. "Y-you weren't w-w-watching me w-were you N-Naruto-kun?"

"S-sorry, I just wanted t-to know how you liked it." Naruto quickly answered as he too had turned his face away. _"Why was I staring!?"_

"G-g-gomen, it's j-just whenever I-I have a c-cinnamon r-roll, I... I t-t-tend to f-f-forget every th-thing else." Hinata stuttered while feeling mortified. _"Oh god, he saw me, he saw me. He probably thinks I'm disgusting now!"_

"N-no, it's fine. I'm just glad you liked it Hinata. Now I know what to get you the next time you help me shop." Naruto said with a smile as he scratched the back of his head.

"N-Next t-time?"

"Yeah, it's getting kind of late and I don't want to get you in any more trouble than I've already gotten us into today. So I was wondering if... you'd maybe like to help me out again when I have enough money to get everything at once?" Naruto asked a little hesitant. _"I wouldn't blame her if she doesn't... especially after what happened today."_

"O-of course I-I would... today w-was... t-today was really f-fun N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata happily whispered as she poked her fingers together.

"R-really? Me too! It was really fun hanging out with you Hinata, minus the bullies of course." Naruto said feeling relieved. "You want to walk home together?"

"S-s-sure."

The two got up and started walking until an Anbu popped up in front of them. "Uzumaki-san, the Hokage wishes me to escort you to his office."

"Jiji wants to see me? Is it because of those guys I sent to him? I thought I told my clones to talk to him about it."

"Partially, but there is a more concerning matter he wishes to speak to you personally about."

Naruto just gave an exhausted sigh before turning to Hinata apologetically. "Sorry Hinata, I guess we have to say goodbye here, maybe I'll s-"

"The Hokage would also like to see Hyuuga-san, Uzumaki-san." The Anbu interjected.

"Why does he want to see Hinata?"

"She was a witness for the assault on your person; hence her testimony is needed as evidence to back up your claims."

"Oh... is that ok with you Hinata?"

"I-I don't mind N-Naruto-kun."

"Good, now if you two would, please follow me."

* * *

[Hokage Office, 10 minutes later]

"First of all Naruto, I'd just like to say thank you for delivering your attackers... it made it easier to track them." The Hokage happily said with a grandfather like smile, after he greeted the two children that came in.

"Hehe, no problem Jiji." Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head and basked in the attention.

"Now, I've heard your side of the story, and the other three men, but there seems to be a disagreement as to what actually happened, which is why I asked Hinata-san to come here. So please tell me your side of the story of what happened as the person the three men tried to _protect_ from Naruto, if you would." The Hokage said as he glared at the three men.

"H-hai Hokage-sama." Hinata responded as she took a step forward and gave her account of what occurred. The three men had to be silenced a couple of times when they spoke out in protest to Hinata's statement, but she was able to give it with Naruto's support as he smiled at her.

"I see..." The Hokage said as he intertwined his fingers, and gave a calculating look to the men who were now sweating uncontrollably from the man's gaze.

"Hokage-sama, please do not do anything drastic when the accused has no proper representation." An old man said as he entered through the doors of the office.

"Homura, do not just let yourself in without my consent while I'm in a meeting." The Hokage stated in a low harsh tone.

"Forgive me, but I have every right to be here ever since you arrested a civilian of this village, Hokage-sama." Homura apologized but didn't seem to mean it from the sound of his voice. "And since there is a civilian involved, I would like to request that these men be put to trial where they can be judged by their peers and not a military figure."

"I am well aware that _one_ of these men is a civilian and is entitled to his rights, but the other two accused, are genin of Konoha and my ninja. Therefore I will be the one to hand out their punishment equally, even if one of them is the child of one of the council members." The Hokage retorted staring down the man as if daring him to go against him. _"He's just trying to find a loophole to have pull over one of the council members..."_

Homura shook with anger for a couple of seconds before he composed himself. "Very well... Hokage-sama."

"Now then, I believe you two are well aware that attacking a ninja of Konoha can be seen as treason..." The Sandaime educated and let it linger a little to cause the two men to feel panic. "Even if it was a misunderstanding that caused you to engage in the first place, the methods you used to 'protect' were more along the lines of blatant prejudice."

The Hokage then looked at the blonde who was now grinning happily towards his attackers. _"I would like to give them a full punishment, but It wouldn't be in Naruto's best interest if an angry council member was after his head... but maybe I can at least help the boy a little." _Clearing his throat, the Hokage got the attention of the whole room before he continued.

"However, since there was more harm done to the attackers, who are experience genin of several years, rather than the victim, who was outnumbered and was a fresh genin, the punishment will be a little more lenient." Sarutobi criticized, causing Naruto to be a little outraged until he saw the humiliated faces of the two genin. "You will be detained in prison for 30 days, and will be restricted to just D-rank missions for an entire year, as well as paying a fine to the victim of five thousand ryou each for damages done to him."

"B-but Hokage-sama, w-"

"Would you prefer 5-25 years in prison, or possibly death? You should be happy with such a light punishment for an act of treason." The Hokage enlightened, which seemed to get through their thick heads as they closed their mouths when they heard 'death'.

"Very good... take them all." The Hokage ordered as he broke his stare with the three men, and two Anbu appeared next to them in a second and quickly disappeared in a cloud of smoke the next. When he saw Homura about to protest from such actions, the Hokage quickly stifled him with his words. "Until his hearing, he is to be imprisoned. He may be a civilian, but I can detain anyone I think may be of harm to the other residence in this village for their protection.

"Sweet! So I get..." The boy looked at his hands before answering. "Ten thousand ryou! Did you hear that Hinata? That should make buying what I need a lot easier -ttebayo." The hyperactive boy said and then hugged the unsuspecting girl, causing her to 'Eep!'

Naruto quickly backed up from the blushing girl looking panicked as he tried apologizing. "S-sorry Hinata, I didn't mean to- Argh I'm so stupid! I was just so excited that I-... I'm sorry!"

"_Oh no! Why did I act that way!? Now Naruto-kun thinks-..." _Hinata thought in concern. "It's o-ok Naru-"

She was interrupted though when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." The Hokage allowed.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the doors burst open with a strong gust, and a person dropped down from the roof, surprising the majority of the people in the room, and some of the hidden Anbu. "Hey oji-san, I came right on time, right!?"

"Hai Anko... thank you for coming." The Hokage tiredly said through his hand because he face palmed at her dramatic entrance that caused a couple of his papers to fly around the room. _"Yep, she's definitely back to her old self."_

"How dare you enter the Hokage's office like that!" Homura nagged mostly out of anger for being one of the ones surprised.

"Haha, nice Anko-nee-chan! You really got me there."

"I aim to please gaki!" Anko joked before ruffling the boys head and joining in his laughter.

"Homura... if you have no further business, please leave as I need to speak in private on more personal matters with some of the people here." The Sandaime informed before looking towards Hinata and speaking in a softer tone. "I'm sorry, but that also includes you Hinata..."

"This personal matter wouldn't happen to pertain to what happened to Uzumaki's apartment the night of October 14th would it, Hokage-sama?" An old woman asked this time as she came in through the doors with a folder holding documents. "If so, we would like to remind you that Uzumaki-san was a citizen of Konoha at the time it happened, and there were several victims of that fire. As such, we as your advisors and council members, would like this to be handled by-"

"I'll stop you right there Koharu. I already understand that the matter of compensation and justice for the residents of the complex must be handled by the council; however the ones who committed the act of arson and vandalism against Naruto were ninja, and I wanted to discuss with Naruto on their punishment."

"Acts committed against Uzumaki? What are you talking about Sarutobi, the fire was caused by Naruto's neglect. He left the stove on in his apartment. It's his fault that the complex burnt down, so he should be the one to charge." Koharu confidently said, next to Homura now, as she opened up her folder. "I have documents here on eye witness accounts, and a forensics report on the origins of the fire."

"Shut your wrinkly trap you old hag. Naruto didn't burn down his house. Those god damn pricks that were looking for him did it out of hate. I saw it with my own two eyes." Anko countered through gritted teeth.

"Well the statements of my eye witnesses say otherwise! The shinobi that were out searching for the boy went to his residence to see if he was there, but when they smelled smoke, they quickly knocked down the door to save anyone that might have been caught inside, and when they found no one, they helped the other residence of the complex out of their apartments so that they wouldn't be caught in the fire."

"Hah! They knocked down the door alright, but only so they could tear the place up. They knew he wasn't inside, and when they weren't satisfied with just breaking his stuff, they placed explosive notes everywhere and got everyone out before they set it ablaze with a katon jutsu. The notes exploded as it was burning, which is why the building collapsed." Anko fired back.

"And why should we believe the words of a _tainted_ person like you over more honourable shinobi?" Homura questioned, obviously referring to her past connections to try and dismiss her as a credible witness.

"Because she was helping them." The Hokage calmly updated. "She knew full well that she would be punished equally along with the rest of them, but still confessed along with the names of the other people involved."

"P-punished?" Naruto asked the Hokage with his eyes widened in shock. "B-but Anko-nee-chan is really nice to me, she's even letting me stay at her place until I fix up mine. You can't punish her jiji."

The Professor was rubbing the bridge of his nose as he tried to quell the headache starting. _"I hate this part of my job..." _He thought letting out a sigh. "Naruto, as a ninja that is supposed to protect the people of this village and Hi no kuni, they did something very wrong... including Anko."

"For a shinobi, there are two sets of laws they must follow: The laws of the country, and the laws of the military. I, as the Hokage, control the punishments for the military, and as such I must give everyone involved in the disobedience an equal penalty, no matter the extent of their involvement. As long as they knew full well that they were disobeying the rules of the military, they will be punished for the crimes that they have or helped commit. I cannot show favouritism between a group of people and one person because it would cause mistrust within my ranks, and my ninja will lose faith in me as a leader."

"But your input is not needed here Hokage-sama, this crime wasn't caused by a shinobi, I have evidence that discredits this _person_'s testimony." Koharu said as she glared at Anko, but then broke it as she handed the Hokage the document in her hand. "Remember, the forensic evidence of the origin of the fire."

"And under whose order was this evidence acquired?" The Hokage posed with a raised eyebrow at the woman after he looked over the file.

"The council is entitled to perform investigations on cases that relate to civilian matters, Hokage-sama."

"Yes, well... Kuma, can you please come here?" The Hokage requested, and just as fast, an Anbu wearing a bear mask came out from the shadows next to him. "Please quickly look over this file, and tell me if you noticed anything peculiar"

"Hai Hokage-sama." The short brown hair man said before accepting the paper.

"As some of you may know, Kuma here is a licensed architectural engineer. He will be able to evaluate the file on its accuracy." Sarutobi notified causing Koharu to sweat a little.

The cause must have been obvious, because it didn't take long for the man to speak up. "Hokage-sama, from the description of the report, it seems like this was an orchestrated demolition. The center of the complex broke straight through the middle causing the rest to collapse on itself and not damage the surrounding buildings. Explosions are evident from the burn marks on some remains and pieces of the building being embedded into other pieces, but they blamed it on the gas-line exploding, which is unlikely due to the extent of the damage. Lastly, the greatest thing they seemed to skip over was that the support beams were cut cleanly diagonally. A normal fire or even an explosion doesn't have the capabilities to perform such a task."

"So then according to the facts, it was not possible for the complex to burn and collapse due to the neglect of one lit stove?" The Hokage questioned as if he already knew the answer to it.

"Hai Hokage-sama." The man replied.

"Well then Homura, Koharu... as you can see, the evidence shows that Mitarashi Anko's testimony is genuine, while your... _honourable_ witnesses seemed to have falsified their statements. Maybe an investigation is needed to verify the accuracy of the council's evidence in their reports from now on... or maybe you'd like to give me the names of the people who headed this investigation so I can _ask _them for the cause of their inaccuracy?" The Hokage inquired knowing full well that the council would pester him none stop and try to find ways around having to go through his investigations. _"At least I can diminish their ground men this way."_

"Th-their names will be given to you tomorrow Hokage-sama." Koharu hesitantly responded after thinking it over.

"Good, now then, since there are no more issues concerning the civilians of this village that won't be taken care of in the next council meeting, I would like for the two of you to please leave my office." The Hokage contently said with his grandfather like smile that seemed to be used to hide the look of contempt.

"... Hai Hokage-sama." The two advisors stated in unison.

When the two had left, Sarutobi looked towards the shy girl one more time. "Gomen Hinata, but as you heard, this is a personal matter I wish to talk to Naruto about."

"H-Hai, I u-understand H-Hoka-"

"No! I don't want her to leave jiji." Naruto protested. "This is just a talk you wanted with me, and not an order. So then Hinata can stay if I want her too, right?"

"Yes that is true Naruto. If you want, she doesn't have to leave if she wishes to stay."

"Please Hinata? You heard a lot already, can you just stay a little longer?"

"_Naruto-kun wants me to stay with him..." _When she saw the desperate and worried look on the boy's face, she just couldn't say no. "O-ok, N-N-Naruto-kun."

The boy instantly felt relieved when he heard her answer.

"Alright, now that everyone is here..." The Hokage said with a small smile from the interaction between the two preteens, he quickly raised his hand with a gesture to signal the Anbu in the room to leave before he continued. "I would like to discuss with you about the punishment for the shinobi that burned down your home."

At that, the traitor's student looked down with a bit of leftover shame for what she had done.

"You want to punish Anko-nee-chan don't you..." Naruto spoke a subdued voice.

"Well that is what I wanted to talk to you about Naruto... I understand that you don't wish for Anko to get the same penalties as the rest of them, but she made a poor decision and must suffer the consequences. That is why I want you to decide what their punishment will be. "

"So basically I can make all those guys get what they deserve... or let them off the hook so that nothing happens?"

"Yes, I know it's a difficult decision Naruto, but-"

"Nah its simple jiji, I don't want anything to happen to Anko-nee-chan, so nothing will happen to them." Naruto said smiling thinking the issue was resolved, until a hand clasped over his mouth.

"I won't let you do that Naruto!" Anko asserted, and then bowed her head to Sarutobi while still keeping her hand on Naruto. "Please oji-san, forget what this gaki just said. They need to be punished for what they did to Naruto, and if that means I get punished too, I'll gladly accept it."

Naruto broke free from her hand completely irritated. "Hey quiet nee-chan! I'm trying to get you out of this mess!"

Hinata was slightly holding him back by grabbing the back of his shirt with both hands. "N-Naruto-kun, c-calm-"

"You can't! If you don't punish them, then they'll think they can just do it again, and more people will join in the next time!"

"I can't let you get in trouble nee-chan!"  
"I can't let you get in trouble otouto!" The two said at once as their foreheads were pushing against each other like two angry rams.

"... N-N-Naruto-kun, she's right." Hinata said in a soft voice.

"Eh!?...AH!!!" Naruto responded, but because of the distraction he was overpowered and fell back onto Hinata who struggled holding the boy up from the surprise shift. "No fair nee-chan, I was listening to Hinata!"

"Good, then listen to her well brat because she agrees with me!"

"But nee-"

"Naruto, she has a point. If nothing is done, they'll most likely try something worse. Are you willing to take that risk?" The Hokage asked trying to be the voice of reason.

"If it means nothing happens to nee-chan then of course!" Naruto shouted as he stomped his foot on the ground.

Anko's eye twitched at the outburst. "You stupid little-"

"Wh-what if we d-do b-both!?" Hinata suggested in a voice that was louder than her regular soft one. It seemed to grab the attention of the others in the room. Hinata blushed when all eyes fell on her, and ducked her head down like a turtle hiding its head in its shell.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked giving the girl his full attention.

"I-I mean, m-m-maybe we c-can give a p-punishment to th-them that isn't r-r-really a p-punishment for M-Mitarashi-san. Th-they shouldn't get away w-with nothing, th-they did t-take your h-home away f-from you N-Naruto-kun."

"That would be great but I don't know what kind of p-..." The village outcast then looked towards the Sandaime. "Hey jiji, can I give out any kind of punishment!?"

"Anything, except for death or disfigurement of the body, since they didn't try to actually kill anyone. Why, what do you have in mind?" The Hokage asked when he saw the mischievous look on the boy's face. _"Am I going to regret this?"_

"Something really good... dattebayo."

* * *

Next chapter: Extra Mission

A/N: hmmm last chapter seemed to do better but not by much... I got almost 100% more hits for the second chapter than I did for the first chapter... but then again, the first chapter only got 244 hits in the first two days, doubling it isn't much... However the number of reviews a little bit more than doubled which is nice =D

All the reviews I get though seem to say that the story is good, but by the number of hits and reviews I know something has to be wrong with it because It's not even measuring up to my first story which I thought was crap after I reread it. So PLEASE if you review this, could you probably mention something you didn't like about it? Or say what you liked the most about it? Like if you liked the humour, tell me which part so I know what people see as funny, or possibly give me your list of LOL.

Example:

1st place: Captain chibi Hinata in chapter two.

2nd place: Kakashi's breakdown in chapter three.

3rd place: Hinata shouting "PENIS!" in chapter one =P

I don't know... just something, anything... I need help T.T (PM me if you want to beta this =P)

OH VERY IMPORTANT!!! I started writing this story around the middle of the winter Olympics, so when I posted chapter 1, I was already half way through chapter 3. Therefore the next chapter will probably take a little longer... like a week. Look forward to it.


	4. Extra Mission

Disclaimer: KishiHomo- I mean Kishimoto owns Naruto... no matter how badly we don't seem to care about Sasuke anymore...

* * *

Chapter 4: Extra Mission

Light filtered through the window and hit her eyes. Soon lavender tinted orbs opened up to the world, before they closed back from the sensation she was now conscious too. _"My body still hurts..."_

As part of her punishment for running away a couple of nights ago, Hinata now had mandatory late night training and sparing on top of her regular schedule. Last night was her first experience, since she officially made genin yesterday, to the brutal exercise.

Her father forced her to keep on going even when she was low on chakra. A couple of times they gave her solider pills until they deemed that any more would be damaging for her health. Her body was covered in bruises before the medics fixed her up, but it was still sore, including a few of her organs.

"_Ooh... I still have to see my team today." _Hinata mentally moaned as she carefully got out of bed. It hurt to walk, but she pushed herself towards the washroom, and turned on the shower. Waiting for it to get warm, she undressed before testing the water. However, when she stuck her arm in she had to muffle a scream of pain. _"It hurts this much!?"_

Changing the showerhead pressure to a mist, she cautiously stepped inside, but relaxed when the warm water ran over her body. She had to gently clean herself in fear that she might put too much pressure on her body. Once she was done and towelled herself off, she grabbed the special cream that she made for herself to heal her body after jyuken spars.

Slowly she covered every inch of herself, and put a little more on places that were still sore. She couldn't help but feel a little self loathing when she grabbed a bit of salve for her bottom, but soon ran out. It was in full affect though when the same thing happened as she tried to cover her chest. _"Why do I have to be so ugly? They keep on getting bigger and bigger. I can't be pretty like Sakura or Ino."_ Hinata chastised, drowning her confidence with her own two hands.

She quickly bandaged up her chest and whimpered a few times from the pressure. _"I can't let anyone see how ugly I am... everyone would hate me. Even Naruto-kun."_ The heiress told herself as she put on her bulky jacket.

Once she was fully dressed, she walked down the hall towards the kitchen, but stopped when she saw her father. "O-o-ohayo, o-otou-sama..."

"Good morning Hinata. Is your body doing better than yesterday?" Hiashi asked in an even voice but almost sounded as if he cared a little.

"Y-yes, f-f-father..."

"Today is your first day doing missions, yes?"

"H-hai..." She answered looking down to the ground when his eyes had left her.

"Do not disappoint our name." The clan head said and then continued walking in the opposite direction of her.

* * *

[Mission hall, in the morning]

"Are you ok Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked the village leader who seemed to be rubbing his eyes from exhaustion.

"Yes, I'm fine Iruka. I just had a long night yesterday." Sarutobi replied before two chunin came into the mission hall with a stack of scrolls each.

"Here are the D-rank missions Hokage-sama." The two men said as they placed them on the table before snickering. "I'm sure all the new genin will be looking forward to them."

Others in the room started to chuckle, but Iruka held his worried look as he whispered to the Sandaime. "If I may ask... what happened?"

"The village council decided to have a sooner than planned meeting to discuss recent... issues." The Hokage said letting out a sigh.

Iruka felt a little dread before asking what was on his mind. "... This wasn't because of what happened to Naruto, was it?"

"I'd be lying if I said none of it was about him..." The Hokage stated, but then turned to the man with a reassuring smile. "But don't worry, I didn't let anything happen."

* * *

[Flashback, yesterday night in the council room]

Like any other council meeting, both the village representatives and the shinobi representatives were seated around the outside of a 'U' shaped table. The Hokage was flanked by his advisors for the village on his left (Homura, Koharu, and Danzo), and the heads of the 5 founding clans on his right (Hyuuga, Aburame, Akimichi, Senju, Uchiha) with two empty seats of course. The rest sat wherever they liked, but tended to group together with certain people, like little clicks.

The Sandaime frowned as they got near the end of their current discussion. "So we still don't know the reason for the sudden increase of B-ranked and up missions outside and inside the country?"

"No, but doesn't this regularly happen from time to time? If it's making money for the village, I don't see what's wrong with it." A pink haired civilian woman casually gave her opinion.

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just we don't know why it's happening. It's always something like a war, a group of bandits, a new religion, or a new source of income that everyone wants to get their hands on. The fact that we don't know is what's troubling us." Inoichi clarified.

"Also it's starting to spread our forces out so thin that if the quantity of the missions increases, like we expect them too, we won't have enough shinobi to cover them all. We cannot allow the feudal lords that hire us to think Konoha does not have the power needed to complete their missions, otherwise they will go to another village and we will lose are larger clients." Danzo educated.

"Is it true that the traitor Mizuki was recently in touch with Orochimaru? No one knows where he is right now, but could he be the possible cause for the increase of missions lately if he's started to pop up?" Another civilian asked looking towards the Hokage for answers.

"We've tried looking for all connections linking Mizuki to Orochimaru. It seems that Mizuki only received one message from him half a year ago, but all communication was cut off since then. It could be possible, but we have no way of knowing for sure." The Hokage informed as he intertwined his fingers. _"Until Jiraiya finds some information on him for me..."_

"Well whether we find out why or not, that still won't solve the problem of an excessive amount of missions that we do not have the man power to complete. For now I think we should think of solutions to just being able to complete these missions." Homura proposed as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"If I remember correctly, in the last period we were in such a situation, the children of the village graduated from the academy at a much earlier age, shinobi were promoted more regularly, and we were accepting of new clans that wished to join." Shibi recalled in a monotone voice.

"There are a lot of families within fire country, and none of them have shown any interest in joining. We will send out invitations, but I doubt any will accept. For now I will be taking suggestions of possible candidates for early promotion to chunin, special jounin, or jounin, but I will not change the rules for the academy. I don't want a repeat of past mistakes." The Sandaime said sternly at the end.

"Huhh, troublesome..." Shikaku lazily spoke with a sigh. "If worse comes to worse; we can always use jounin sensei from genin squads and send out more experienced genin to D and C rank missions by themselves, or join teams so they at least have one sensei in it."

"That seems reasonable, but like you said, I'll only resort to it if we run out of options." Sarutobi ensured before looking to the rest of the room. "Are there any more proposals?... (no answers)... Then let's continue on to the next discussion."

Koharu then stood up and addressed the occupants of the room. "The council would like to discuss about your recent punishment to the shinobi that... burned down the apartment complex two nights ago, Hokage-sama."

"And why does the council wish to do that? They have no say in the way I punish my shinobi for breaking the rules of the military." The Hokage stated as he gave a hard look to the woman.

"Yes that's true... but we believe that the penalty was too high for such an incident, and we were hoping you w-"

"To high? I do not believe their fine was too high for shinobi who disobeyed their Hokage, set a part of Konoha ablaze, and destroyed the home of a child before doing so. Their punishment should be adequate enough for what they did. An eye for an eye, you could say."

One woman in the room couldn't take it anymore and just stood up so that she could start shrieking. "What do you mean adequate!? You kicked out eleven people from their homes, and gave it all to that... to that MONSTER!!!"

Many in the room, who didn't know their place, started whispering the same things until they felt a heavy pressure in the room and looked to see a very pissed off Hokage. It gave a lot of people a cold sweat, and instantly stopped all conversations. "Haruno-san, please refrain from further outbursts... you wouldn't want the outside populace to hear what you just said." The Hokage suggested with a hidden threat pertaining to a certain S class village secret. "Now concerning the punishment... I only did what they did to Naruto. They took away his home, so he gets to take theirs."

"What about the other people in the complex that lost their homes from the fire. Do they get compensated?" A villager questioned.

"They already have been compensated. Three of the attackers had houses and the three other occupants of the building got one each... that's even more than what they lost." The Hokage calmly answered. There were only three other people who were willing to live in the same building as _the demon_ but they all lived from the furthest floor from the blonde. "The rest went to Naruto because he was the target for their crime."

"Aren't you forgetting something though, Hokage-sama?" Homura asked before he continued. "Uzumaki is too young to even be considered a land owner, and without a guardian of some kind, he cannot have legal rights over the property."

Sarutobi just chuckled at the pathetic excuse his advisor was trying to give him. "Now Homura, I'm a little disappointed in you. You say he's too young to be a land owner, but wouldn't that mean he's also too young to live in an apartment in the first place?" The Hokage inquired causing the advisor to be a little confused before his eye started twitching from the obvious mistake. "The deeds are under his name, but I am in full control of them until he has come of age or has become a chunin. Just like when I rented out his apartment, or how Uchiha Sasuke keeps his compound."

Many of them closed their mouths at that point; they knew if they fought with the Hokage anymore about this, there would be unwanted sacrifices in other places.

The rest of the meeting was about what kind of punishments should be individually given out to the criminals according to the laws of the country. Anko was the first one up, and they instantly pounced on giving the _snake whore_ of Konoha a strong punishment. Sarutobi fought with them on it, saying things like she was the one who confessed and such, but they eventually settled on restricting her from C and up mission for 3 months, and B and up missions outside the village for six months afterwards.

However because of that, Sarutobi got to have a field day with the rest of the offenders by saying. "If you gave such a sentence to someone who confessed to the crime, didn't burn down the apartment, and regretted that she was a part of it... then it should only be fair that the rest get such charges."

Other things were brought up later on like the ones who attacked Naruto today, but nothing came of it when the Hokage suggested full punishment for treason as a counter offer. All in all, he did relatively well. _"Although Anko is going to be infuriated when she finds out tomorrow..."_

* * *

[End of Flashback, Back with the Hokage.]

Iruka sighed in relief when he saw that look on the Hokage's face, everything was alright. _"Thank Kami Naruto's fine."_

Speaking of the blonde... "Hey jiji, your number one ninja is here for his first mission!" Naruto declared as the doors burst open.

"Baka, don't be so annoying in front of the Hokage!" Sakura screeched as she punched Naruto on the head. A couple of the people twitched from the sound as it reminded them of a certain woman. Green eyes then looked to the source of her obsession for approval in her actions. "Right Sasuke-kun?"

"_Idiots..." _The Uchiha thought as he just looked out the window, ignoring them.

"Now, now, calm down. Let's not make this a scene." Kakashi tried to diffuse his students. _"This is going to be a long day... and we still have training after we do these missions..."_

"Ah, so Team 7 is the first team from the new genin that came to get a mission. Well, let me just see what your duty will be for today." The Hokage said as he grabbed a scroll from the pile. "Your first job will be retrieving the daimyo's wife's cat Tora. It was last spotted heading towards the forest northeast of here."

Naruto looked a little disappointed. "Whah? That's it? I was hoping for something bigger, but if it's just catching a little kitty, we'll finish this mission so fast you-"

"Finish your mission?" The Hokage asked with a raised eyebrow. "Naruto... I don't think you understand how these missions work. Most, if not all, take a month to three to be considered complete. For example, in order for this mission to be considered complete, you would have to catch Tora 12 different times."

"What! Why does it take that long to complete a mission?" Naruto asked totally baffled. His two teammates couldn't help but stare at the Hokage thinking the same thing.

Iruka took it upon himself to tell them as he went into teacher mood. "Well as rookies, you are limited to D-rank missions. These missions pose no dangers like enemies and are within safe areas like the village or towns close to us. Usually, they are repetitive missions like babysitting, buying things from the next town for a shop, helping out with the local farms, etc. Some of these things cannot be completed in one day or even a week. Therefore, it wouldn't be fair for some to be able to complete a mission in a day, and others having to spend weeks doing theirs. That is why there is a minimum for certain missions like catching Tora. However don't worry; you're still paid each day for how much you did."

"Neh, Sakura-chan you want to go on a date later today?" Naruto asked with his back turned to face the former teacher as if he wasn't paying attention at all.

Anger filled the pinkette's eyes as she readied her fist.

"Naruto, were you even listening to me!?" Iruka shouted, noticeably irritated.

The blonde pivoted around, and Sakura's punch went right by him. "Yeah, I heard you, but I still don't know why we have to do a boring mission." He stated not noticing that Sakura had lost her balance from the punch and was now headed towards Sasuke. "Can't you just give us something better?"

Her knight in emo armour stopped her from colliding with him by holding her out of reach. Nonetheless, it didn't stop the crazed fan girl from enjoying his hands on her shoulders, causing her knees to go a little weak so that he would support her more. "Thanks so much Sasuke-kun, maybe I can reward you with a d-"

"Annoying..." The Uchiha plainly responded as he let her go, causing her to fall to the ground.

Sakura's world seemed to crash down from that. _"H-he thinks I'm annoying? Sasuke-kun thinks I'm annoying!?" _Her hopeless look turned to a glare as she starred at the back of a blonde head. _**"This is all your fault Naruto-baka!"**_

While that went on, the Hokage answered the boy's questions. "Naruto, other than the fact that you're all a bunch of fresh genin, these missions are done for us to see if you can handle a... better mission as you put it. Most missions above D-rank are a couple of weeks, to even a half a year long or more. We wouldn't be able to know if you can handle such long missions if you can't even complete a D-rank mission that's around the same amount of time and in your own home."

"So... it's like getting us ready for harder missions?" Naruto asked after absorbing the information.

"Hai, you could see it that way as well." Sarutobi answered with a small smile when the child understood.

"But I still don't want to do it jiji."

... ok, somewhat understood.

"Sorry about my student Hokage-sama, we'll take the mission." Kakashi apologized as he grabbed the scroll, and then Naruto as he dragged him out of the room.

* * *

[Mission hall, early afternoon]

"Alright team, it was a little shaky at first, but good job today. You're dismissed." Kurenai praised her squad after she handed in the report and they got their pay.

With their duties complete, Kiba decided to finally make his move... again. "Hey Hinata, let's go celebrate our first day as a-."

"What a wonderful suggestion Kiba, why don't I join you?" Kurenai interjected as a vein pulsed in irritation. She then grabbed the dog owner by the back of his sweater and pulled him out of the room. _"The entire day he's been trying to get at Hinata... I might have to put a muzzle on him."_

The last two members just shared a look of confusion before Shino gave a light bow to Hinata. "Farewell Hinata, see you tomorrow at our designated gathering area."

"G-g-goodbye Sh-Shino-kun." Hinata replied, giving her own bow to be polite.

Hinata watched as the boy silently left through the doors, and was about to follow him when the doors once again burst open for the second time that day. "Hey Jiji, can I have another mi-Ah!" Naruto enquired until he collided with someone. Noticing that the person was starting to fall, he quickly reached out for anything he could grab without hesitating, and pulled the person into a hug to stable them.

"Ouch. Sorry about that, I guess I should be a little more care- Oh hey Hinata!" Naruto happily said, still holding her close with one hand on her elbow and the other around her waist.

Hinata's emotions were going crazy ever since she went from a Naruto free zone, to a Naruto tightly holding her and his face only being one inch away from her zone, in one second. In this situation... she did the only thing she could do from such an extreme sudden shock... she passed out.

* * *

[Inside Hinata's head]

"Captain's log, Oct 17th... so far today we've managed to elude the sexy blonde boy. We are taking this time to restore and improve our defences so that we may withstand future attacks. The crew has become weary from lack of sleep, but they hold strong. I even find myself losing sleep because of the new virus that seems to have plagued the ship. No doubt that it originated from the cute whisker boy."

"Images of him invade our minds at random without any reason, our bodies grow hot, the chest beats faster, and it becomes hard to breath, yet through such apparent suffering the need for more increases. I've had the doctors look many of us over, but they can't find the source of the problem. I'm afraid that if we don't find the cure soon, we'll all be-... Who turned off the god damn lights!?" She shouted as her quarters had become pitch black.

"Captain, the ship has shut down! We were hit by a surprise attack!" A crew member informed from behind the door.

"A surprise attack!? By who!?"

"Uzumaki... Naruto ma'am."

"Naruto-kun att-" She caught her little slip of the tongue, and felt her heart beat as she put her hand over it. _"No... It's spread too far. That damn handsome son of a-"_

She didn't get to finish her thought as she too passed out.

* * *

[Back in the mission hall]

"Hinata!? Hinata, are you ok!?" Naruto asked the girl as he shook her lightly. When her body went limp, he had to adjust himself to support her weight, and moved the both of them away from further accidents. Now he was on the ground Indian style while holding Hinata in his arms like a bride. Her body seemed to relax itself when the boy stayed in one position, which is why her head rested comfortably on his shoulder. "I didn't hit her too hard did I jiji?"

The Hokage just chuckled at the question. "I'm sure she's fine Naruto, she just needs a little rest and I'm sure she'll wake up. For now though, tell me why you've come back here. You're the only one here from your team, and I believe you already finished your duties for today a couple of hours ago."

"I want to have another mission. I need some money for the new place you gave me. You know, for like furniture and stuff." Naruto explained, not noticing the Hyuuga that was nuzzling closer towards the crook of his neck.

"As much as I would like to give you one of these backed up missions Naruto, I can't."

"Why not?" Naruto retorted.

"Because Kakashi isn't here with you. If you don't have a chunin or higher to watch over and guide you as you do the mission, I can't give it to you."

"B-b-but-"

His response was cut short by a loud outburst from a very pissed off purple haired woman who stormed inside. "Oi, oji-san! What do they mean I CAN'T INTERROGATE ANYONE!?"

"Anko, first calm down, there's an audience." The Hokage said as he gestured around the room and ended on the blue and blonde patch.

"Hi nee-chan." Naruto greeted near the back of the room when Anko looked his way, surprising her.

"Naruto? Wha-"

"Now as for why you might be irritated, the council has decided that for your actions done towards a citizen of the hidden leaf 3 nights ago, you are to be restricted from C-rank and up missions for three months, and B-rank and up missions outside the village for six months afterwards. Once your three months are up, you will be allowed to interrogate inside the village, but until then... I'm sorry Anko."

The woman looked like she was going to protest until she found out it was because of what she did to Naruto. "I... I understand..." Anko spoke subdued as she looked down and gripped her knees. _"I said I would accept any punishment, and I meant it."_

Hinata at this point started to stir because of all the noise. "Mrhmph... to loud..." She mumbled as she snuggled closer to Naruto to block out the noise. Her arms encircled around his chest, while her face nestled in the crook of his neck as she breathed in his sent.

"H-hinata?" Naruto stuttered as his face got a little red, but tried to give his own explanation as to why. _"That's it, her nose is tickling me. Oh well, it's not that bad. She couldn't even hug me yesterday... is it because she's asleep? She smells really nice though. I wonder if Sakura-chan could smell like this."_

During this time, Sarutobi tried to quell Anko's anger by telling her the charges that the other ninja got. It seemed to put a smile on her face when she found out that they wouldn't be able to do anything to Naruto for some time. "Speaking of Naruto, you came at a good time Anko. Recently the boy requested more missions from me, but he has no sensei with him, so I can't let him have any. Since you are restricted to D-ranked missions for a while, would you like to be a temporary instructor for him?"

"You mean nee-chan can be my sensei!?" Naruto asked with hope in his eyes, which swiftly turned to the torturer's brown coloured ones. "Please nee-chan! Please! I could use the money."

"Fine but you're doing all the work. I don't feel like actually doing D-rank missions." Anko insisted, keeping up the act. _"It's the only way I can make money at the moment, so I might as well help him out."_

"Sweet, I get Anko-nee-chan as a sensei. Wait, should I call you Anko-sensei now, or aneki?"

"Hrm... what's with all the noise?" Hinata sleepily asked with a small pout. She groggily rubbed her eyes after she pulled back from the embrace.

"Hey, you're awake now Hinata." Naruto cheerfully said before a look of concern was cast on his face. "You aren't hurt are you?"

"Huh... Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked a little dazed. _"I'm probably still dreaming... Naruto-kun wouldn't be near me when I slee-..."_

The haziness of her mind soon left her as she remembered what happened earlier and realized she was sitting on something. Her eyes opened up to meet azure spheres, and she instantly jumped off the boy and on to her feet with a red face. "G-g-g-g-gomen N-N-Naruto-kun, I-I didn-"

"Oh you're fine, that's a relief." Naruto interrupted with a sigh.

"Well then Naruto, would you like to get your new mission?" The Hokage asked with his grandfather like smile.

"M-m-mission?" Hinata posed as she looked around for the boy's squad but found none.

"Yeah, I finished the jobs I had with my team, but I wanted to do a little more to make some cash. Anko-nee-chan is going to be my sensei too, you want to join us Hinata?" Naruto offered as he got back up.

"Y-you want me t-to d-do a mission w-with you?" Hinata asked as she looked at the boy in disbelief.

"Why not? It'll be more fun if I have someone to talk to rather than one syllable Sasuke-teme."

"B-but I'll j-just get in y-your way N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said a little depressed as if she had already experienced it earlier today.

"No you won't, these missions are easy. Jiji says they're like practice missions, so you don't have to worry about doing something wrong that much. Even I messed up a couple of times, but I eventually finished them. If I practice a little more, I could do any of these boring jobs." Naruto admitted while scratching the back of his head. "So you want to come?"

"O-o-ok." Hinata answered in her soft voice while her fists tightened. _"I-I'll practice doing missions too, just like Naruto-kun. Maybe I won't hold back anyone and actually help."_

"Oh great, another one." The mistress of torture said with a smirk. "Thank you, oji-san for giving me so many toys to tease while I'm out of the job."

"Aghm, yes well... Since Naruto likes painting the Hokage monument, the first mission I'll give-..." Sarutobi didn't know what to call them and just looked at each member until he fell on Anko. "Team dango, will be painting the inside of three houses in the east side of Konoha, here are the addresses."

"Ok old man." Anko accepted as she grabbed the scroll with a grin that she had on ever since she heard the team name. "Alright brats, let's go!"

Once the three walked out, Iruka spoke up for the first time since Naruto came in. "Do you really think that was a good idea Hokage-sama?"

"If it was just Naruto and Anko, it would probably have the same chances of working as flipping a coin, but if Hinata's there with them, it'll most likely be fine."

"But you asked Anko to help Naruto out before he asked Hinata. How did you know he was going to ask her?"

"Well, I was taking a gamble there." Sarutobi said as he chuckled, causing Iruka to face plant.

* * *

[15 minutes later, at one of the houses]

The three made it inside a relatively large empty house, and found the paint cans, rollers, and other supplies not too far away from the door. "Hmm, looks like this could take a while gaki." Anko said as she gave a quick survey of the house. "Still want to do extra missions?"

"Of course, I'm not gonna back down from this –ttebayo." Naruto confidently said as he walked over to the supplies. "So what's with all this extra stuff?"

The other two members sweat dropped at that, but Hinata quickly came to his side as she started to explain the first thing they had to do. Anko during this time, unrolled the scroll completely to see a layout of the rooms with labels indicating what colours went where.

"So we have to sweep all the walls of dust first, and then put tape around the edges so we don't paint in the wrong spot?" Naruto asked almost not believing the amount of preparation needed to do before one actual started to paint. Hinata just nodded, causing Naruto to already look a little exhausted from just thinking about how much he had to do. An idea then popped in his head, and he stuffed a towel into his pocket. **"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

The first floor of the house seemed to erupt in smoke. Hinata had seen this before during that night Naruto first learned the jutsu, but was nowhere close to the area, so she never experienced being surrounded by it. _"S-so... many... Naruto-kuns..." _Hinata thought with a deep blush before she closed her eyes and tried to cut off her senses of what was going on around her.

Anko was surprised when she saw a bunch of clones covering the area, but at the same time a little impressed. "Hooo, so you can use kage bunshin huh? Quite a few too, although you look a little winded there." She teased as she looked at the only blonde who was taking in deep breaths. He hadn't broken a sweat so she knew he was alright. _"If he had a little better control, he wouldn't have wasted so much chakra. Meh, he looks ok at least."_

"I'm fine nee-chan, this much is nothing." Naruto tried to boast, even though he was clearly inexperienced. "Alright guys, you know what to do! Let's get this mission done in one day!"

"So that's why you wanted to do extra missions... this should be interesting." Anko said with a smirk.

With the signal to begin launched, the clones started spreading themselves throughout the entire household. However, two thirds of them rushed to Anko. "Hey nee-chan, can you give me the keys to the other places, and the address?"

"Sure, but I better go with you to make sure you don't do something stupid." Anko jested with a grin as she too put her hands into a cross shaped seal. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."**

There were now nine extra Anko that could be seen, and the clones separated into groups of three, as six of them headed out the door. "Just follow me."

"Nee-chan, you know that jutsu too!?" the original asked in surprise, thinking that it was just his special jutsu.

"I know a lot more than just that gaki, but good luck finding them out." Anko taunted causing a staring contest between the two, until the smug look on the torture's face irritated the blonde past his tolerance.

"Fine! Be that way!" The boy shouted as he stormed off back towards the bluenette.

"_Is it over?" _Hinata thought as she slowly opened her eyes to take a peek, and when she saw only a few clones wiping down the walls, she let out a sigh of relief even though there was still a blush on her face from seeing so many whisker faces. _"A-amazing, they're everywhere..."_

"Hey Hinata, what do I do next?" Naruto asked, sounding annoyed but not at her.

"_What's wrong with Naruto-kun?..." _Hinata thought concerned as she saw the slight angry pout that was aimed at the ground, and then looked past the boy to see Anko with a victory smile plastered on her face. The shy girl couldn't help but giggle. _"It looks so cute."_

"Eh? What's so funny Hinata?" Naruto curiously asked, his anger long forgotten.

"_O-oh, I was caught laughing again!" _Hinata panicked as she quickly put her hands up to her mouth to stifle it. When the laughter had stopped, she started poking her fingers in embarrassment as she answered. "I-It's j-j-just you t-two get a-along s-s-so well... a-and it l-looked like y-you were h-h-having fun, a-and-"

"Alright, enough slacking around, don't you two have a job to do?" Anko quizzed as she ruffled Naruto's head.

"Ok, ok, we'll start." Naruto responded, and then looked towards his temporary teammate. "So can you tell me what to do next Hinata?"

The girl nodded before she explained the steps he had to do afterwards. The entire time the clones were wiping down the walls and taping the edges, Hinata was able to show him each step clearly, and they even got to practice how to properly paint the wall with the roller.

Once the clones were done, Naruto had to dispel them so that he could grab a roller and pan, and then once again make a small army of himself. They spread themselves out evenly throughout the houses, and everything was going according to plan until the boy forgot one thing. "Crap, I don't know what colour to paint the rooms."

"Baka, you should have looked at the map first before you took off." Anko criticized as she slapped his hands that were coming up to dismiss his clones. "Here just look at this, and I'll tell you what to do next."

The dead last looked at the map and memorized it quickly. It wasn't hard since there where only a few rooms with different colours, while the rest was just white. "Ok, you got it?" The traitor's student asked, getting a nod as a reply. "Now make one clone."

Listening to his temporary sensei, Naruto made the clone. "There, now what do I-" He stopped what he was saying when Anko's fist collided with the bunshin. "What the hell was that for!?"

"Look." She ordered as she forcibly turned the boy around to see his clones starting to paint in the other rooms, but glaring at Anko at the same time.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked completely dumfounded.

"First answer me this, why did you get so mad when I punched your clone?"

"Because it really hurt!" Naruto retorted as he unconsciously rubbed his cheek when he remembered.

"But I didn't punch you did I? It was just your clone, so why do you know it hurt?"

"Because... because..." Naruto started to counter until he really thought about it. _"Why did it hurt... it's like I knew what he was thinking."_

"Hehe, looks like you figured it out a bit."

"When they go puff, I get their memories?"

"That's a part of it, but look at the rest of your clones." Anko advised, pointing out to the slightly angry faces. "They get the memories too."

"Sugoi... That's so cool nee-chan!" Naruto excitedly praised with stars in his eyes.

"Well it would be pretty shameful if I didn't teach you at least one thing while I'm your sensei." Anko said taking in the attention. "Now do me a favour. Make another clone and pop it so the other ones stop looking at me."

"Sure thing." Naruto complied as he created and then deflated the lookalike. A couple hours were spent completing the first and second coats of paint, and after pulling off the tape, they were now doing the small touch-ups.

The original and Hinata were working in the same wall, but at two different ends, while heading for each other. They were both engrossed in their work, that they didn't even notice each other until Hinata accidently painted Naruto's hand.

The heiress couldn't help but fluster. "G-g-gomen! I-I-I d-didn't mean t-"

"It's ok Hinata. Don't worry, it's just paint." Naruto said with a smile which seemed to calm Hinata down... until he dabbed her nose. "Now we're even."

The shy girl looked down at her now white coloured nose, causing her to go a little cross eyed. It was too much for the blonde apparently as he closed his eyes and started laughing. "haha, it really suits you!"

Hinata pouted, until a rare mischievous smile appeared on her face. The next thing Naruto felt was something cold and wet move across his cheek. He stopped his laughing, opened his eyes, and touched his cheek to find the white liquid on it. The heiress giggled from behind her hand at the bewildered look the whiskered face was giving.

A smile appeared on Naruto's face before it turned to a grin. "So you think that's funny huh?" the village outcast taunted in a playful tone, and then reached out to paint the now moving canvas.

"N-no Naruto-kun!" Hinata protested still laughing as she tried dodging, but then retaliated when he got her chin. "S-stop running a-away!"

The two continued with these back and forth attacks for ten minutes, but it came to an end when the prankster backed up a little too close to the pile of paint cans. When the Hyuuga went in for the strike, she reached a little too far, and Naruto tried to dodge, but they both ended up falling over the cans.

"Ugh, that hurt... Are you ok Hinata?" Naruto asked the girl who had fallen on top of him, while trying to catch his breath.

"H-h-hai, I-I think I'm alright. Th-thank you f-for breaking m-my f-fall, a-are y-you ok N-Naruto-k-" Hinata worried until she felt something on her chest. Looking down she saw the boys hand over her left breast. "Eep!"

"G-gomen Hinata, I didn't mean too! Please don't hurt me!" Naruto begged as he brought his arms up defensively, and turned his head away with closed eyes waiting for the pain.

"I-it was an a-a-a-accident, I-I know i-it's not y-your f-fault N-Naruto-kun." Hinata spoke in a soft voice with a deep blush as she sat up straight, not noticing that she was still straddling the boy. _"Oh god he felt it! Does he know! He probably thinks I'm disgusting!"_

"R-really, you're not going to hit me? Sakura-chan hits me for just walking between her and Sasuke. She would kill me if something like this happened." Naruto informed looking totally confused as he looked up at the shy girl.

"I-it's ok b-because I kn-know y-you didn't m-mean to d-do it N-Naruto-kun." Hinata reassured, before her thoughts went towards more depressing matters. _"How could he let her hit him for something like that..."_

"Wow, you're the greatest Hinata. I'm really glad we're friends." Naruto said with a smile, but then felt something odd in the area Hinata was sitting. _"What the..."_

"I-I'm really g-g-glad we're f-friends too, N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata duplicated as the first smile since the incident appeared on her face.

Naruto just felt the odd feeling that was building up increase when he saw her happy face, and he knew what it was. _"Oh crap, why now!" _The preteen thought, and started breaking out into a cold sweat. "Ano, Hinata... do you think you can get off me now?"

"Ah! G-gomen." Hinata apologized as she shifted her legs into position to get up, which caused her body to shake a little on him. She got up, and Naruto's hands instantly covered the area she was sitting on. _"Did Naruto-kun have something in his pocket? I felt like I was sitting on something hard... like a kunai..."_

"_Crap, did she notice? I can't have this with Hinata around! I need to find nee-chan, NOW!" _Naruto thought as he got up, and started scratching the back of his head with one hand while the other stayed in place. "Hehe, well I guess we should get back to work."

"O-oh, r-r-right." Hinata stuttered as she turned around to find her brush.

Naruto decided to take this opportunity to make a dash out of the room. _"Shit! Nee-chan, nee-chan, nee-chan! Where the hell is nee-chan!?" _The boy ended up running up the stairs until he found the person he was looking for doing inspections of the finished rooms. "Nee-chan!"

"Wooh Naruto, calm down. What's got your noodles in a bunch?" Anko asked a little surprised by his sudden outburst and paint coated appearance.

"This!" Naruto stated as he removed his hands to show the tent in his pants. "You have to help me nee-chan! I was with Hinata and then this happened. I can't take a shower here, there has to be some other way to get rid of it."

"Aw, little Naru-kun wants to come out and play." Anko said in a baby voice to irritate Naruto.

"Nee-chan, this isn't the time for jokes!"

... it was working.

"Alright, alright, you really want to know how to get rid of it?" Anko asked getting a nod from Naruto. Her tormentor side then decided to appear. "Well first I have to ask, is there a girl you like Naruto?... (nod)... Then I want you to just think about her, and it should go away."

"Ok nee-chan."

"_Oh this should be good. He'll think of innocent little Hinata, and he won't be able to get it down at all." _Anko thought with a devious grin, but after a couple of minutes, she saw it start to go down. _"Eh!? What happened!?"_

"Wow nee-chan, it really worked. Thanks!"

"Naruto... who's the girl you thought about?" Anko questioned totally confused.

"Sakura-chan of course. Thanks again nee-chan, now I know if I want to fix that problem again, all I have to do is think of the girl I like." Naruto joyfully said as he made his way back down stairs.

"_I was out fooled by his stupidity..." _Anko thought as she slumped to the ground while her eye twitched from his response.

The rest of the time went off without a hitch and the mission had been completed. The only real problem was that Naruto and Hinata were covered in white paint from falling on the cans earlier, but luckily it was hardwood flooring, so they were able to mop up the mess. Also, after Naruto dispelled all his clones, he was left with a slight headache, and a lot of mental exhaustion, but he kept on going as if nothing affected him.

The owners of the houses came in to inspect their job after Anko sent a clone to retrieve them, and they signed the scroll showing it was done. There was a little issue with the owners though when they found out Naruto was one of the genin to help paint the house, but they had already signed saying there was nothing wrong. Apparently, they were the other tenants within Naruto's old apartment building who now had these houses because of him, but they didn't seem to see it that way.

"Ungrateful bums... I shouldn't have given them anything... or paint their house." Naruto said to himself, but the two females couldn't help but overhear as they walked down the street a little concerned. "Meh, it doesn't matter now anyways..."

* * *

[Mission hall, mid afternoon]

"Hey jiji, I'm-... oh it's just you Iruka-sensei." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head.

The chunin just looked the genin now sporting mostly white over his clothing. "I see you had a little fun with your extra duty today."

"Haha, yeah there was a little accident, but we did the job."

"Well good, I hoped you learned from this though and won't make the same mistake when you go back tomorrow." Iruka casually said as he was looking through reports.

"Tomorrow? I'm not going back there tomorrow Iruka-sensei."

When the scared nose man heard that, he looked up from his papers with a serious look. "Naruto, you can't just go and back out of your mission because you had a little mishap. Weren't you the one who said he wanted more missions?"

"Yeah, and I want another one tomorrow. I finished this one already." The boy said with a large grin.

"Don't lie to me N-"

"Before you finish that sentence, maybe you should take a look at this." Anko suggested as she handed Iruka the signed scroll, along with her mission report.

Iruka took the scroll, a little sceptical, but as he read through it, and then the mission report, his eyebrows rose higher and higher. "Y-you actually completed a mission... in one day" Iruka stated in a low shocked voice.

"Yeah, so can we get our pay?" Naruto asked a little excited.

"Uh... y-yeah sure..." Iruka responded and then wrote the amounts they were supposed to receive on a sheet of paper to hand in to the cashier.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei." Naruto said as he snatched the paper.

After another round of doubt with the cashier, the blonde handed out their pay. The village had deducted their portion since it was a mission asked for them to complete, and the cash had to be split three ways (with a little extra going towards the sensei), but it was still a fairly large amount.

"A lot less then what I usually get for finishing my regular missions, but not bad for one day." Anko quipped as she looked through the amount of notes.

"I-I-I c-can't accept th-this much N-Naruto-kun. Y-you did a-all th-the work." Hinata rejected as she offered the money back to the boy.

"No Hinata you deserve this, I wouldn't have been able to do it if you didn't show me what I had to do. I know I can be a little hard to teach some times, but you really made sure I knew what I was doing. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be stuck on that mission for a few days, and I might have run out of paint trying to fix all my mistakes." The dead last said as he gently pushed her hands back. "You worked hard for this, and you really helped me out."

"_I-I was able to help Naruto-kun?" _Hinata thought astonished. A small smile appeared on her face as a tiny sense of accomplishment washed over her. She was looking at the ground as she whispered her gratitude for this wonderful feeling. "Thank you Naruto-kun."

"You say something Hinata?" Naruto asked as he bent down a little to be in her line of sight.

"N-n-no, it w-was n-nothing." Hinata stuttered in embarrassment as she poked her fingers together. "I-I should be g-g-going n-"

"Oh you're not going anywhere." Anko objected as she picked up the girl, from around her waist, under her arm. "I'm not letting you go anywhere until I get you nice and clean."

"Nee-chan put Hinata down!"

"Make me." Anko provoked, and then jumped out the window.

"God damn it nee-chan!" Naruto cursed as he couldn't jump out of buildings like other shinobi could yet. With only one option, he quickly ran down the stairs to try and catch up with the kidnapper.

Iruka just rubbed his eyebrows after the trio left. _"Why did the Hokage let them come together again?" _The man thought until it reminded him of something, and he too got up to leave. _"I should get this report in to the Hokage!"_

* * *

[At the apartment, 10 minutes later]

Naruto was panting as he entered through the door. He was exhausted from the mission, and chasing after the much faster special jounin didn't help. "Nee-chan... *pant*... what are... *swallow*... you doing?"

"Well you made Hinata-chan all dirty because you wanted a little extra money, so I thought it was only right to get her cleaned up before she goes home. I don't think her family would appreciate it if we returned her covered in all this dried white stuff." Anko innocently said but used choice words to make it sound dirtier than what it was. Although neither of the preteens got it, so it was mostly for her entertainment.

"N-n-no, i-it's a-alright, r-r-r-r-really." Hinata tried to insist, but was doing horribly as one thought kept going through her mind. _"I'm in Naruto-kun's HOME!"_

The blonde considered what Anko said, and looked Hinata over, top to bottom. She didn't have as much paint on as he did, since he was the one laying on the floor, but he still felt a little guilty for getting her in such a state. "She's right Hinata... I made you dirty, so the least I can do is let you get cleaned. So please, don't go."

"_Naruto-kun... why does he look a little sad..." _Hinata thought as she just seemed to be entranced by the boy's cheerless face.

"Well you heard the man of the house." Anko stepped in before the heiress could reply, picked her up again, and began carrying her towards the bathroom.

"Eep!"

"Nee-chan, what are you doing this time!?" Naruto asked irate.

"I'm just going to help Hinata-chan here in the bath. We're both girls, so it's fine." Anko spoke in an upbeat tone as if she really was just going to help. When she closed the door to the bathroom, she couldn't help but give one last tease to the blonde. "Don't forget Naruto-kun, if you want a peek, all you have to do is knock!"

"I'm not a pervert nee-chan!" the village outcast shouted with a blush.

"M-Mitarashi-san, I c-can wash m-myself. Y-you d-don't have to t-trouble your-"

"It's no trouble at all, and I really just wanted to join you so that we could have a little talk amongst us women without Naruto around." Anko partially unveiled her intentions while she started to strip down into nothing in the small hallway that connected the washroom to the bath. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"... O-ok." Hinata consented as she too began to take off her clothes. However when she got down to her undergarments, she started to get a little anxious.

"There's nothing to be shy about, we're both women." Anko stated as she pulled down Hinata's panties and then unrolled the cloth around her chest.

"Eep!" Her hands instantly came to cover her chest as she backed up against a wall to hide her bottom.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Anko asked a little concerned now as she bent down to head level with the girl. _"I thought she would just shy away... not act like this."_

"M-my b-body is d-d-disgusting. I-I don't want y-you to see it." Hinata cried with tears forming near her eyes.

"Why do you think it's disgusting?" Anko asked in a soft tone as she cupped the girl's cheeks so that she would look at her, while wiping the tears away with her thumbs.

"B-b-because my... ch-chest and m-m-m-my d-denbu are b-bigger than th-the p-prettier g-girls my a-age."

"So? What's wrong with that? That's a good thing. Look how big my chest is." Anko directed as she grasped both her mounds from the bottom. "They're bigger than most women's. Do these look ugly to you?"

Hinata shook her head.

"And what about my hips? It's a lot bigger than my waist. Do they look ugly to you?"

Hinata shook her head again.

"So then why do you think you're disgusting? Any girl would kill to have your body. I bet when you get older they'll be a nice big size that any man would want, and you'll be turning heads without even trying." Anko enlightened, and then got close to the shy girl's ear to whisper in it. "I think a part of my otouto would just find you beautiful if you showed off a little more."

"N-N-N-N-Naruto-kun?..." Hinata said as her arms slowly came down. _"H-he wouldn't find me beautiful, but if he did... No, no, no, he likes Sakura-san, so he definitely wouldn't... would he?"_

"Now get in already." Anko adamantly said as she pushed the girl inside the bathing area. "I'll put our clothes in the washer. You get the bath warmed up, ok?"

After stumbling from the push, the shy girl complied with her torturer's request. As she waited for the large tiled tub to fill up, she went to a different faucet and opened up the hot water to fill up a bucket to pour over herself. The warmth felt good against her skin, and soon she was entirely soaked to prepare for the wash.

"I brought the soap and shampoo." Anko said as she walked into the room before offering her services. "It should be hard cleaning off all that gunk in your hair, let me wash it for you."

"Ah, no i-it's a-a-alright." Hinata declined, but was forced down onto a stool a second later with hands in her hair anyways.

"But you really need to work the shampoo in there, and it's a little hard doing it yourself. Besides, it was my gaki that did this too you right, so it's the least I can do since he can't do it himself." Anko advocated as she needed the girls scalp.

"I-It wasn't N-Naruto-kun's fault. I-I was the o-one who g-got p-paint on h-his h-hand first." Hinata tried clarifying.

"Yeah, but I bet he egged you on right? He does that to people."

"H-hai, b-but I d-didn't mind... i-it was f-fun." Hinata defended as she started poking her fingers together.

"I bet it was." Anko agreed with a smirk. _"Especially for little Naru-kun."_

For some reason Hinata felt an uncomfortable feeling, as if she were going to regret continuing with the recent topic, and decided to switch it to a new one. "I-I w-was r-really surprised w-with how b-big this a-apartment is. Even t-this room a-and th-the bath is l-large."

"Yeah, this building only has four apartments on each floor, one for each corner, so each one is pretty big."

"H-how many p-places d-did N-Naruto-kun get?"

"He got 8 of them, two on this floor, the entire floor below us, one under that, and another one under that. This building only has 8 floors, so he owns a fourth of it now."

"I-Including this o-one?"

"Yep, he kicked me out of my own home, but lets me stay."

"Th-that's r-r-really n-nice." Hinata said to herself as she got into a far off look.

"Hmm? What's this, does Hinata-chan want to live here too?" Anko probed, with a knowing smile.

"N-n-no I-I d-din't s-s-s-s-"

"Naruto would probably let you... although he'll charge you a fee, not with cash though, but with service."

"W-with s-s-service?" Hinata curiously asked as she looked over her shoulder to see the woman.

Anko had to hold back the grin that was begging to come out at this point before she continued. "Oh yes, don't worry it's nothing much. Naruto just can't seem to sleep with regular pillows, so every night he's been using nee-chan's breast to rest his head on." Anko casually said, and then reached forward to squeeze Hinata's chest. "You have a soft pair, I'm sure Naruto would love to sleep on these."

"M-M-Mitarashi-san!" Hinata exclaimed as she bent forward to get out of the woman's grasp, and then covered her bosom. However, the thought was racing in her mind. _"N-Naruto-kun... sleeping on my chest... every night..."_

A small trickle of blood left her nose until Anko ruffled her soapy wet hair. "Haha, I was just kidding. Naruto doesn't charge me anything. Oh and call me Anko at least... enough with the whole being polite thing, ok?"

"O-ok Anko... sensei..." the shy girl said after she wiped away the blood.

"Sensei?... well I guess it's better than being called Mitarashi-san." Anko thought as she grabbed the bucket. "Close your eyes."

The two continued to talk as they washed their bodies, and soon enjoyed the relaxing feeling of the warm water as they dipped into the bath. They let their minds relax and their muscles untie until one of them got up. "I'll go get you a set of clothes to change into. You're the same height as Naruto, so his clothes should fit you."

"W-w-w-wear N-N-Naru-"

"See you in a bit Hinata, just relax in the water till then." Anko insisted as she walked through the doors.

Grabbing a towel from the shelf, Anko wrapped it around herself before she walked out of the washroom and into her own room. It didn't take long for her to dry her body, with her hair still slightly wet, and change into her regular nightly wardrobe of a panty and tank top, but this time it was an eggplant dark violet.

Once she was... dressed, she walked over to Naruto's room, and turned the light on, but didn't expect to see what was inside. _"He must have been drained..." _Anko thought as she saw Naruto's passed out body on the bed. Not being able to just see him half dangling off the edge like that, she picked him up and put him properly under the covers. _"He'll probably wake up in a bit... stupid gaki, making me worried."_

Even with those thoughts in mind, she couldn't help the smile that formed at seeing his peaceful face. Shaking her head, she got back to why she came in here in the first place. _"I might as well put some clothes out for him as well for when he wakes up..." _The snake's student decided, and placed the change of clothes on the edge of the bed. She then remembered the bandage that he wrapped around his right arm, and gently removed it for him. _"He always complains afterwards when he sleeps with that on."_

Leaving the blonde's memento on the bed near the clothes, Anko walked out of the room with the extra set of garments, after turning off the lights, and into her own room to place them on her bed.

She walked back into the bathroom after she closed her bedroom door, and grabbed a towel for Hinata to use.

"A-arigato." The heiress thanked as she accepted the towel.

"No problem. When you've dried yourself off, you can find the clothes in my room on my bed." Anko instructed as she started to walk out of the room. "I'll be waiting for you in the main room."

"W-w-wait!" Hinata called out, which stopped the special jounin. "Y-you're going o-outside d-dressed l-like that?"

"This is how I always dress when I get home." Anko casually said.

"E-even when N-Naruto-kun is a-a-around?"

"Well it may not be my home anymore, but he said that it's still pretty much mine. Plus it's fun to annoy him with it."

"B-b-b-b-"

"Don't worry, Naruto doesn't try a thing, and after yesterday he's gotten used to it. Also, don't you think it's a little mean for a boy his age to live with such a sexy nee-chan and not get a little service?"

"S-s-s-s-serv-"

"Calm down Hinata-chan, I was just messing with you again. Although I'll be damned if I change the way I dress just because of a little gaki. He's the perfect gentleman though, so don't worry." Anko explained with a smirk, and walked out of the room.

"O-ok." Hinata said after calming down, and then started wiping away the water clinging to her skin. Once she was done, she wrapped the towel around herself, but stopped walking when she got to the door. _"Wh-what if Naruto-kun sees me!?"_

Cautiously, she slid the door open, and stuck her blushing head out to look around for any sign of the whiskered face boy. Guessing it was safe, Hinata dashed to the only opened door across from the washroom to not be accidently seen. Instantly she closed the door, and turned on the lights.

Looking around she found a bed with a set of clothes on it, and a bundled up blanket that she thought Anko forgot to fix in the morning. The heiress then grabbed the first thing she had to wear... undergarments. _"Th-this is Naruto-kun's boxer!" _Hinata mentally panicked as she sat on the bed, until she reminded herself of something. _"W-wait, he bought all these clothes yesterday... so he hasn't worn any, except the ones that might be on him now. So he hasn't worn this."_

Although she told herself that, she still couldn't stop the blush from forming on her face from wearing men's underwear. Getting up from the bed, she turned back around, and was about to grab the blue shirt until she saw what looked like wrapping not too far away. _"She even prepared this for me... Anko-sensei is really thoughtful."_

As she bent down to grab the bandage, a being in the bed began to stir when Hinata had gotten off of it earlier. Blue eyes peeked out from the fluffy blanket, as it looked for what woke him up. _"Is nee-chan in here a- Hinata!"_

His eyes widened, but were glued to her exposed chest as she slowly wrapped it, making sure she was doing it properly. _"H-Hinata is naked... in my room... and she's squeezing her b-b-b- YOU'RE NOT A PERVERT! STOP LOOKING AT HINATA'S TAH-TAHS!"_ He mentally shouted but his body and eyes wouldn't listen to him.

It wasn't until the heiress fully wrapped them and then begin to wear the shirt did Naruto pull back down into the blanket when her eyes were covered. _"She didn't notice me right? She'd definitely kill me if she noticed. I can't make a sound. If Hinata finds out... I don't want to lose my only friend." _The blonde thought depressed and ashamed at himself.

After a little while, the sound of feet walking away from him and a door opening was heard. Letting out a sigh of relief, Naruto pulled back the covers and came to the surface for fresh air. _"That was close! That was way too close! I can't let something like this hap-" _His thoughts were cut short when he felt something odd between his legs.

"_Crap! Again!? Think of Sakura-chan, think of Sakura-chan, think of Sakura-chan and then Hinata's squishy boobs. NO! STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM! SHE'S YOUR FRIEND! YOU'RE NOT A PERVERT!" _Naruto mentally berated himself as he tried to get rid of the stiff member. "Think of Sakura-chan, think of Sakura-chan! You're not a pervert!"

... Although the blood dripping out his nose seemed to say otherwise.

"Hey gaki, aren't you awake yet?" Anko asked as she peeked in from the hallway. That is until she had to pull back to dodge a charging blonde headed for the washroom.

"I'm taking a bath!" Was his only response as he slammed the door shut.

"What's got him so bothered?" Anko wondered but just shrugged her shoulders as she walked back into the family room. "So how do you like the place?"

"I-It's r-really lovely A-Anko-sensei." Hinata shyly answered from her spot on the couch.

"Thanks, I really worked hard to-" The special jounin had to stop mid sentence when her stomach grumbled. "Hehe, guess I forgot to eat something since lunch..."

"A-Anko-sensei, i-if it's a-alright... c-could I u-use the k-kitchen t-to make something f-for us?" Hinata requested, but when the woman looked back at her with a curious eyebrow raised, she quickly brought her arms up in defence. "I-I-I-I just m-mean... neither of u-us h-have eaten a-anything, and I-I wanted t-to thank y-you and N-Naruto-kun in some w-way for l-letting me j-join you t-today."

"Hooo, so you want to prove you're a candidate for future status as imouto huh? Alright Hinata, as Naruto's nee-chan, I'll test out your cooking skills." Anko said with a smirk, confusing the girl a little. "The fastest way to being my imouto is through Naruto's stomach, so make sure it's extra tasty."

"A-ano... hai?" Hinata hesitantly answered, not really sure what was going on. _"B-but at least I have permission to use the kitchen."_

Wanting to try it out as soon as possible, Anko pushed the Hyuuga into the kitchen so that she could begin working. She made sure to watch over her as the girl cooked, and answered any question she had about the location of ingredients and equipment.

(1 hour later)

Naruto walked out of his room fully clothed now after a long time in the bathroom getting all the paint off his body... that, and spending some time under a cold shower to calm himself. His nose had twitched earlier though when he walked out of the bath, and did everything he could to get changed as fast as possible. _"Food!"_

He ran towards the kitchen where the smell was the strongest, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the two females. _"H-Hinata!" _Naruto shouted in his mind and then turned his head away from the girl before trying to act normal. "S-so Hinata is making dinner huh."

"H-hai, Anko-sensei l-let me u-use the k-kitchen."

"It smells really good, when's it going to be ready?"

"I-It sh-shouldn't take m-much longer."

"She's making it to please that stomach of yours as a 'thank you', so you better be grateful gaki."

"Th-th-th-there's n-no n-need to d-do th-that." The shy girl spoke out a little worried. "I t-t-told N-Naruto-kun b-before th-that I w-would cook f-for h-h-him a-again... I-I-I j-just h-hope y-y-you all l-like it."

Naruto's embarrassment seemed to leave him when he heard the anxious tone Hinata was using. "Don't worry Hinata, you're cooking is amazing. I'm sure we'll love it." The village outcast reassured with a soft smile directed at the girl. "I'm looking forward to it."

The boy then left to go wait on the couch, leaving the two women alone.

"_H-he's looking forward to it." _Hinata repeated with a smile and rosy cheeks as she stirred the stew gently.

Soon the food was on the table, with everyone seated around it. A curious blonde eyebrow rose as it looked at his dish. "So what is this?" Naruto asked, not having any experience with many other dishes, other than ramen.

"I-It's beef c-curry..." The heiress answered as she looked intently at the other two people for their reactions on their first bite.

"_Holy crap this girl can cook!" _Anko mentally praised in shock after taking her first sample. She tried controlling her emotions though before she spoke. "It's impressive Hinata-chan. I give you a passing mark and my blessing."

"_Blessing?..." _Hinata pondered on, but not for long when she saw Naruto about to eat his first bite.

"Holy crap this is delicious! You really made this here!?" Naruto animatedly asked before getting a nod from the girl. "It's a lot better than that bento you gave me. Probably because it's fresh, but still!"

"Th-th-th-th-th-thank y-y-you N-N-Naruto-kun... A-Anko-sensei." Hinata said with a deep blush from all the praise, but her heart felt content. _"Th-they really like it! I thought because it was different he probably wouldn't, but I'm so glad Naruto-kun liked it!"_

All three started eating their meals, and would every now and then talk about something random. One memorable one came near the end though.

"So Naruto, how good do you think Hinata looks wearing your clothes?" Anko asked as she pointed to the blue shirt, and grey sweat pants.

"What do you mean nee-chan?" Naruto asked before he started to drink some water from his glass.

"I mean..." Anko said as she got up and walked behind the heiress. Swiftly, she pinched the blue shirt at the back, and pulled, making the cloth hug Hinata's body. "How sexy do you think she looks?"

*Pffft!* Naruto had spat out his water when he saw the area he tried to forget emphasised.

"Eep!" Hinata squeaked as she bent forward and covered her chest with her arms.

"I'm not a pervert nee-chan, and stop messing with Hinata!" Naruto complained as he stood up with a blush.

"Oh come on, don't you like it just a little? I think she looks pretty hot in those clothes... you know when you compare them to that bulky jacket of hers." Anko explained as she sat back down before she continued. "I mean look... She's wearing a boy's shirt, but you can see how it's not loose on her at all, and the pants are a little baggy, but her ass really fills up the back nicely."

Hinata was completely mortified at this point as she hid her head under the table so the others couldn't see her tomato red skin.

"Nee-chan stop it, it's not funny anymore." Naruto tried to finish when he noticed the distressed state Hinata was in. "You're being mean to Hinata."

"What do you mean? You think I'm making fun of her? Why? Do you think she's ugly?"

"Of course she's not ugly!" Naruto retorted getting irritated.

"Then what, she's not pretty like other girls?"

"Shut up! Hinata is really pretty! She just doesn't care about that kind of stuff like the other girls! So, stop messing with her!" Naruto declared, getting a little red with anger.

"Oh, so you do think she's _really _pretty... see Hinata-chan, I told you he didn't think you were ugly." Anko informed a little cheerfully, ignoring the glare from the blonde completely.

"Y-y-y-you th-think I-I'm p-p-pretty?" Hinata questioned in disbelief as she poked her head back up.

Naruto was startled by what she asked, and his anger turned to panic. "Ah, no! That's not what I meant! I'm not a pervert or anything! It's just, you know... I see guys looking at you every now and then like Kiba and... you don't wear makeup or care about what you eat like other girls, just like nee-chan, and you know, you're different... like one of the guys!" The blonde's head started to hurt, and he furiously rubbed it as if hopping the answer would just pop in. "ARGH! Just forget everything I said!"

The village prankster couldn't take it anymore as his mind overloaded, and he just dropped his head down on the table with both hands put over his ears.

"N-N-Naruto-kun?"

"I think you broke my otouto, Hinata-chan." Anko joked as she started laughing. The sound of the dryer then buzzed before it turned off. "Oh, you're clothes are done. I'll go get them for you."

The heiress was now alone with the village outcast, and she couldn't help but ask what was on her mind. "N-Naruto-kun, c-c-can I a-ask you s-something?"

Even though her voice was low and quivering, Naruto was somehow able to hear her, and cautiously opened up his hands a little bit so that he could hear a little better. "I-If it's about what I just said can you just forget about it Hinata?"

"I-I-I just n-need t-to kn-know one th-thing... p-please Naruto-kun?"

"..." He just couldn't say no to the sincerity in her voice. "Alright..."

"D-d-do you th-think I-I'm u-u-u-u-ugly?"

"NO! You're definitely not ugly!" Naruto asserted as his head shot up so that he could look at her seriously in the face.

"Th-thank you N-Naruto-kun." Hinata quietly said with a small smile. _"He can see that I'm bigger than most girls because of these clothes, but he still doesn't think I'm ugly... I'm glad."_

"Ok Hinata, here's your clothes. Wear them while they're still warm, it feels really good." Anko suggested as she handed the girl back her attire. "You're free to go home now."

"Home!" Hinata exclaimed in fright when she remembered how late it was. _"Training with otou-san is going to start soon. I have to get back now!"_

Hastily, she ran to an empty room, changed her clothes, and handed back the loaners to Anko. "Th-thank you f-for having me today." Hinata said as she ran for the door until she was blocked by Naruto.

"Hinata, let's do another mission tomorrow. Same place, same time, ok?" The heiress just nodded, and a smile formed on Naruto's lips as he moved out of the way. "Oh and thanks for the food."

"Y-You're welcome N-Naruto-kun!" She said while running down the hall.

"Huh... it seems like Hinata-chan had your bandage Naruto." Anko said as she grabbed the white cloth.

"Why would she have..." The image of her wrapping her breast soon came in his mind, and a blush formed on his face. _"Think of Sakura-chan, think of Sakura-chan and Hinata's creamy white skin. NO! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!"_

* * *

[Hyuuga compound, an hour before evening]

Side by side, Hinata and Hiashi walked through the halls towards the dojo in silence, until the man unexpectedly broke it. "I heard that on a few of duties this morning you required the help of your teammates... are my sources correct Hinata."

"H-Hai o-otou-sama."

"I'm sure you already know how disgraceful that is."

"H-H-Hai o-otou-sama."

"And where were you after you had finished your duties. You hadn't arrived home until just recently."

"... I-I w-was doing a-an extra m-mission t-to train m-myself to not h-hold b-back my team."

Hiashi was a little curious at this point, since he had heard no word of it. "And the result?"

"T-the m-mission was c-completed..."

A raised eyebrow appeared on the usually stone chiselled face. "Completed you say... in one day?"

"H-Hai."

"... Very good." Hiashi approved as he pushed the doors to the dojo open. "See to it that this work ethic continues."

"H-hai otou-sama." Hinata said with a smile.

* * *

Next chapter: Scaredy Cat.

A/N: NO! It is not the wave mission next if you were wondering. Completely new mission, should be fun =)

So yeah I figured I'll have to do some explaining about why the D rank missions work out this way. Originally I thought they were just a onetime thing like all of you do, however... when I found out there was more than an 8 month time period between Naruto joining team 7 (Oct 15th) and the start of the chunin exams (July 1st)... I thought it was odd that Naruto's tally of missions was like this:

Naruto: (updated all the way from the 3rd data book)  
D-Rank: 7  
C-Rank: 1  
B-Rank: 2  
A-Rank: 6  
S-Rank: 0

Seven D rank missions in total... Considering that the wave arc is in the month of May that meant he did 7 D ranks in 6 and a half months before he went to wave... Only explanation I could come up with was these month long missions. Meh, makes it more interesting I think...

Many of you have said you enjoyed the Captain Hinata appearances. I hope I didn't disappoint on this chapter. I've probably only watched one episode of star trek when I was really young, and the newest movie that came out a year or two ago, but mostly the only reason why I know at least this much about it is that cartoons continue to make references to it (like Futurama) so I've learned off that. Some of you may have noticed Captain Hinata beginning to start a path towards a more... ecchi'er character, tell me if you think it's any good or I should just stop it =P

Anyways... Still sad about the lack of hits T.T Review don't matter as much (unless you want me to put the chapters out faster... they inspire me to write and break down the walls of my writer's block with a sledgehammer), but the fact that the hits are so low means there aren't that many people reading.

*cries in the corner* You'll be my friend right Mr. Corner? *has lost his mind*


	5. Scaredy Cat

Disclaimer: With every chapter in the manga we see just how useless Sakura really is... would it really have killed Kishi to make Sakura a side character? Hinata could have easily become Tsunade's apprentice. Well I guess I'll get one with it no matter how much it pains me: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto... T.T

* * *

Chapter 5: Scaredy Cat

Warmth... an all encompassing warmth and a gentle breeze against part of his golden locks could be felt in his half awake state. The calming smell of tea and a hint of sweet red bean paste filled his nose, and the sound of another's breathing could be heard, which explained the breeze. He started to wake up and move, but the movement of his torso was restricted as an arm encircled it and pulled him back to the squishy soft source of the warmth.

The young boy, who had turned 12 this month, had only one conclusion as he regained his senses. _"Nee-chan is in my bed again, isn't she..." _Naruto determined as he let out a sigh. It was Oct 30th, a little over two weeks since he started living with Konoha's mistress of torture, so he had gotten used to waking up each and every day like this even though he would ask her to stop. Hell, one time he even barricaded the door and sealed off the windows, but she still managed to come in his room while she was asleep.

Carefully, Naruto grabbed the arm that held him down and removed it from his person. When he made to move however, a smooth long leg snaked over his waist to stop him. He separated himself once again, and was at the edge of the bed until a hand shot out, grabbed the back of his shirt, and yanked him back while embracing him tightly, which turned him around. His head was now facing her, and her other hand came to the back of his skull so that she could hold him closer to her.

"Nee-chan... let me go... I have to go see my team..." Naruto informed while sounding a little muffled from in between Anko's bosom.

"Rmrrrr... too early... sleep..." Anko mumbled as her leg once more draped itself around the boy's waist to hold him even closer.

"Sleep all you want just let me go..." Naruto complained as he tried pushing himself from her. When there was a little bit of space, he took that chance to grab an extra pillow, and use it as a replacement for Anko's death grip. A noticeable frown was on the woman's face when she hugged it close to her and there was no warmth. The blonde just rolled his eyes, and changed into his normal clothes.

Grabbing himself a bowl of cereal, he sat at the table grumbling a little to himself as he ate. "Every day she does this... it's like she's trying to make me worse than Kakashi-sensei."

Yes it's true, because of the special jounin's tendency to hold on to him as she slept, he had arrived at his team's meeting point late a few times. Not as late as Kakashi, but one time he had been late for almost an hour. His team would meet at 5 a.m. but Kakashi would always come an hour or two late, so at least he made it on time... relatively.

Even though he knew his sensei would be late, he'd always try to get there on time because of one thing. _"Sakura-chan will probably be there soon." _Naruto assumed since he knew the pinkette would get there early to catch the first glimpse of her precious lone wolf.

"Rmrrr... Why'd you leave?... The bed was warm otouto." Anko yawned as she tiredly walked in the main room with both hands in her panties. Whenever she woke up she would always use it as a makeshift pocket to hold her cold hands to her body and warm them up. However, because of the small amount of material, one could see at certain angles that her natural hair colour was indeed purple.

It didn't expose her womanhood, but it was still able to fluster up Naruto. "Nee-chan, take your hands out of your underwear!"

"But it's warm..."

"Then just wear some more clothes or something!"

"But then I'll get too warm..." Anko answered causing a vein to pop up on Naruto's head.

The boy had to take a deep breath in to calm his anger... he couldn't let her get to him. _"She's just trying to annoy you, don't fall for it... but I really wish she would at least wear some shorts or something, is that too much to ask!?" _Naruto mentally shouted, and once more tried calming himself down.

"Why do you force yourself to wake up so early..." Anko asked as she sat down at the table after preparing a cup of tea and some dango to go with it.

"I told you nee-chan, Sakura-chan is there and I don't want her waiting alone."

A small frown came on her face when she heard that name again. _"... baka doesn't even know he doesn't like her..." _Anko reflected when she remembered how the boy calmed himself down after a situation with Hinata. "She's waiting there for someone else though isn't she? Why do you want to go there? Trying to be gentlemanly, can't leave a girl by herself?"

"Well yeah, and you know... cause I like her." The boy said with a blush.

"Why?" Anko asked in a bored monotone voice.

"Eh?"

"Why do you like her... what's so good about her that you don't find in other girls?"

"She's pretty." Naruto responded almost as if it were rehearsed.

"How is she pretty?" The interrogator asked since she had never seen the girl before.

"Well you see... she has... her face is... she has long hair!" Naruto eventually answered.

"Long hair?... So you like long hair? There's a bunch of other girls with long hair, why don't you like them too?"

"Um... because... it's pink!"

"Do you like pink?"

"... no..."

Anko's eye twitched as she started to get mad. "Then why do you like h-"

"I just like her, ok nee-chan!" Naruto abruptly shouted as he stood up, and swiftly made his way towards the door. "I'm leaving, see you in the afternoon!"

The door slammed, and Anko calmly took a sip of tea with a smirk on her face. _"Baka otouto..."_

* * *

[Hyuuga compound]

"_I-It's getting worse..." _Hinata noticed while rubbing the salve over her skin. It had become a routine since she was still forced to do her nightly training, but as the days went on; it was slowly becoming less and less effective. Even though the amount of chakra in the spars was held back and there were no lethal blows, the number of hits she had taken was adding up considerably.

For anyone who knows anything about the jyuken, they would know that it's a fighting style that forces the attacker's chakra into the chakra system of their opponent. Since the system is connected to the organs, the attacker uses the system as a way to send harmful chakra to their opponent internally, like electricity running through a wire. There are generally no bruises visible except for the ones made by the physical hand that hit the opponent, which is generally not that hard. If there were no lethal blows to the organs and no excessive amount of chakra used that could damage a chakra path, the wounds are generally very easy to heal by a basic medic, but it takes a full day to recover.

This is why Hinata had made this salve after reading about it in one of her mother's books. It was pretty simple to make if you followed the recipe. Except for one part, she had to carefully feed the flours that she used for the salve with her own chakra. It took a lot of practice since the plants had a small source of core that could easily be overwhelmed and die if one put too much all at once. However it was needed, these chakra imbued ingredients allowed the medicinal qualities of the salve to reach inside one's body and fix the damage rapidly.

It would take around four hours to fully heal parts of her physical body that the doctors couldn't. This got in the way of her training and missions with her team since she spent three hours of that time with them. Kurenai had asked her if she was ok, but Hinata just gave some random excuse to throw her off as if she was fine, but she knew the woman was still sceptical.

"_If only I could put this on before I went to bed..." _Hinata thought, but she wasn't able too because of being run down so low that she would almost reach chakra exhaustion every night and pass out, that's when the clan doctors would start healing and give her medicine. However this is where the real damage came from, chakra pills.

These pills, unlike solider pills, worked as a catalyst to increase the rate one could make chakra by forcibly taking the spiritual energy and the physical energy from every cell in the body to the core and create more chakra. If one took too many they could seriously damage their body. Hinata was forced one or two pills a night for the past two weeks. Rest was all one needed to get back spiritual energy, but it took time and food to recover from low levels of physical energy.

She'd always be able to get the energy back, but little by little it started to go down. With low levels of physical energy, a person's body would feel weak, and since the Byakugan cannot see these two energies, Hiashi just saw it as Hinata getting weaker and weaker as time passed on.

"_I think Anko-sensei started to notice... I've been doing worse during missions." _Hinata reasoned depressed after she fully clothed herself. It had only started half a week ago when her low amounts of energy seemed to catch up to her during her missions in the afternoon. Anko didn't say anything at all, but she seemed to be covering for her whenever there was something that required a little too much effort. Kurenai hadn't noticed because after the first three hours Hinata would always improve after her injuries were healed, so it wasn't as obvious.

She let out a sigh as she flopped back on her bed. _"At least I can rest for the morning today..." _The reason why she wasn't leaving to go meet up with her team was that her sensei was out on an A-rank mission. Shino also had left with his father to a forest within fire country to look for insects, so there wasn't a point for just her and Kiba to meet up.

The sound of her stomach growling was heard before she could fall back asleep. _"... maybe I should get something to eat first..."_

* * *

[Mission hall, 8 a.m.]

Team 7 entered the mission hall after completing their first duty of the day. Well... almost all of them. _"I can't believe Sakura-chan isn't here today..." _Naruto thought as he walked with his team. He was informed an hour ago, after Kakashi came, that Sakura had gone with her mother to tea country for her family's business. The council woman was quite adamant about her whole family accompanying her to help sell her fabric, and other clothing materials. _"Well she's still pretty, even if I can't see her right now, I just know it!"_

* * *

"Sakura-chan, watch where you st-"

"ACHOOO!!!" the girl sneezed before looking towards her mother. "What was that mom?"

The Pink haired woman's eyes widened before she shouted in warning to her daughter. "WATCH OUT SAKU-"

It was too late as the 'kunoichi' stepped on a pile of feces and slipped on it, causing her to land on her rear while the manure broke her fall. "I-Is that what I think it- Oh god... Oh my god! Ew-ew-ew-EWWW!!! DOG SHIT!!! I'M SITTING IN DOG SHIT! WHAT MORON DOESN'T PICK UP THEIR OWN DOG'S SHIT!?"

She put her hands down to push herself off the ground, but as she did, she felt something squishy in her right hand. Green eyes widened when she saw her hand engrossed in excrement. "More d-d-dog p-UUUUUURPH." She puked partially on herself.

* * *

"Who's a good boy? Who took a big dump today on the road? You did, yes you did, and it was a nice big one too. Such a good boy." Kiba praised in a playful voice as he rubbed Akamaru.

"ACHOOO!!!" The dog owner sneezed, and then continued petting the pup. "Hehe, I bet Hinata-chan is talking about me right now."

The canine only rolled his eyes at that.

* * *

[Back at the mission hall]

"_Yep, definitely pretty, dattebayo! I'm not bothered by nee-chan's question at all." _The dead last rationalized from pure stubbornness. For an unknown reason, a vein popped on his head as he started to get irritated.

"Ah, so I see you all have finished your first duty... well then what should I let you do next..." Sarutobi said as he looked through the D-rank scrolls. "Baby sitting, harvesting potatoes, looking for the daimyo's c-"

"ARGH! Enough of these boring missions! I want to do something a little more exciting, find me a better mission!" Naruto complained, his patience was wearing thin what with all the missions he'd completed already, and the fact that he hadn't been able to confirm something since Sakura wasn't here.

"_... the dobe has a point." _Sasuke thought.

"Now now Naruto, just because we finished a mission in one week doesn't mean we should get in over our heads. You haven't even been a genin for a year, let alone a month. These kinds of missions are to be expected." Kakashi tried to reason. It was true, team 7 did finish a mission within a week's time, and Kakashi casually flaunted it to the other jounin within the village. It was rare for a fresh genin team that wasn't even a month old to be able to finish a mission that fast. Many deduced it was because of the Uchiha.

"_... Well he has completed 9 missions with Anko, plus the one with Kakashi makes 10... That gives him 3 missions over what is needed for an increase in rank... but that's still only Naruto..." _The Sandaime contemplated and then smirked when he saw an opened C-rank mission he was reading earlier. _"... Two qualified genin is better than one I guess..."_

"But we keep getting the crappiest missions!" Naruto argued, while Sarutobi was thinking.

"Be quiet you." Kakashi replied relaxed as he lightly bonked Naruto's head.

"Come on jiji! I know I can do this! I'm not like that kid I used to be!"

The copy nin just sighed as he face palmed. _"I'm going to get yelled at later for this..."_

"Alright..." The Hokage responded still holding his smirk. All three members of the team looked at the old man surprised. "If you want to do it that bad, I'll give you a C-rank mission."

The Icha Icha lover actually put down his book for this. "Are you really giving them a C-rank mission Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that Kakashi?"

"N-no, we'll accept it. What is the mission?" Kakashi answered getting a little serious. It was unheard of for a genin squad to get a C-rank so early, unless there was war.

"It's a, locate and escort mission. I'm also assigning you two extra genin to go along with your team to help track down the target, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata."

"Hinata's coming with us? Sweet!" Naruto yelled ecstatic as he punched the sky. "Ne, ne, so who do we have to find?"

"His name is Shibuki, the leader of Takigakure no Sato. He came to Konoha not too long ago with his own escorts, but on his way back they lost him in a city north of here. They believe he's still in that area, but they don't want to cause an incident by calling in trackers from their country into fire country. That's why they called for our help." The Hokage informed as he intertwined his fingers.

"I'm guessing since the village leader has his own escorts, that it became a C-rank mission because they can defend themselves?" Kakashi asked, but sounded more like a statement.

"Correct, you'll be escorting him all the way back to his village, in case he should get... sidetracked again. However once he reaches the village, your mission is complete."

"Hai, I understand." The cyclopean man responded.

"Good, I'll send a messenger to the other two members of your team. You leave at noon."

"Hai Hokage-sama." Kakashi bowed before walking up to the man and grabbing the scroll. "Alright team, let's head out and get packing."

"Thanks jiji!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder as he walked out the door with his squad.

"_Hn... the alliance with Taki is touchy at the moment... I'm taking a really big gamble here with Naruto, but if I want to change their minds about Konoha, Naruto is the best card I can play... I just hope he doesn't do anything foolish." _The Hokage reflected as he grabbed his pipe and lit it to calm himself down. _"Anko might kill me though for sending him and Hinata out of the village... Hughhh, when will these three months pass already?"_

* * *

[Village gate, a little before noon]

"Hey Hinata! Over here!" Naruto called out as he waved his arm to the girl.

"H-h-hello Naruto-kun..." Hinata greeted giving a small bow of the head. They were the only two there at the moment, and Hinata couldn't stop the small blush that was on her face. _"I-I'm going on a mission... outside the village... with Naruto-kun!"_

"Man... Can you believe it!? We're going on a C-rank mission! I told nee-chan about it when I went home to get my stuff, and she freaked out! She ran out of the place screaming about jiji, it was hilarious!" Naruto recounted grabbing his stomach as he laughed.

Hinata's delicate hand came up to cover her mouth to try and hold back a giggle before composing herself. "N-Naruto-kun... you shouldn't laugh at A-Anko-sensei, sh-she only a-acted that w-way because she's worried about y-you." Hinata countered with a little less stutter... it was still there, just a little less.

"I know, I know, but the look on her face! She deserved it after all the times she's messed with me!" The village prankster spoke triumphantly. "She's messed around with you a couple of times too right?"

A blush appeared on her face when she remembered her chest being groped by the woman, and she timidly started poking her fingers again. "H-h-hai, b-but I think sh-she does it because sh-she cares..." Hinata answered which caused Naruto to get a little confused. "She d-doesn't mind listening to o-our problems, e-even if it's awkward, and she a-always tries to help us i-in her own way..."

The village outcast looked down at the ground with a reminiscent smile as he spoke in a level tone. "Yeah... I guess you're right, even if she sometimes does it in a weird way; nee-chan is always helping me out.... Heck I think jiji only gave us this mission because nee-chan helped us do all those missions."

The heiress only nodded at that. Within 13 days, temporary team dango had completed 9 missions. It only took them on average 1-2 days to complete a mission, which shattered the regular amount of time it took to complete most D-rank missions. No one knew besides the team, the Hokage, Iruka, and Hiashi (but he didn't know about Naruto or Anko's involvement).

After Iruka had told Sarutobi about the method and how quickly they finished the first mission, the Hokage decided to use this to his advantage to clear up some backed up missions that required man power, while giving the other missions to the regular genin teams. He also told Iruka to keep this between the both of them, and that he would be handling their missions and pay from now on rather than the chunin in the mission hall.

Rumours began to spread from the clients of the completed missions, but no one believed them, or they didn't believe it themselves because it was _the demon brat _and the _snake whore_. Even the chunin that gave them their pay on the first day just thought it was a mistake after he never saw them come back to the mission hall as a team. However, one rumour of the great Sasuke-sama completing a mission in a week seemed to be the talk of the town, and easily trounced anything about _the monster_.

The Sandaime knew this would happen which is why he kept it a secret. If people found out, they would question how the blonde could do it, when not even the prodigy of the Uchiha clan could. Many would just jump to the conclusion of the boy using the fox's power, which would lead to them believing he was Kyubi himself. He knew the secret of the boy's missions was going to come out eventually, but he would keep it quiet for as long as he could.

"... What are you talking about dobe?" Sasuke questioned after he appeared in the area. He had only heard the last little bit. _"Who the heck is this nee-chan? Is he talking about that girl at the ramen bar that he makes us eat at?... The dobe's lost his mind."_

"None of your business teme!" Naruto retorted sticking out his tongue.

"Cheh, whatever..." The brooding boy said as he looked away from the blonde.

"H-Hello Sasuke-san..." Hinata greeted trying to be polite.

The raven haired preteen acted like he heard nothing. Naruto came to Hinata's side while glaring at the duck's ass on the back of the boy's head. "Forget about the teme Hinata, he just has a really big headache from his second penis called his ego. All the blood in his body right now is rushing to it, and there's not enough space up there for both his ego and his brain."

Sasuke just turned his head enough so that he could glare at the dead last from the corner of his eyes. "At least I have a penis dobe."

"What'd you say tem-"

"Oh hey Hinata! Are you as excited about doing this mission together as I am!?" A familiar voice interrupted from ways away, with a happy dog barking.

"H-hello Kiba-kun... h-hai it's very exciting." Hinata answered, once again being polite, but slightly stepped closer to Naruto. _"Kurenai-sensei warned me not to get too close to Kiba-kun, and something is telling me to listen to her..."_

"I know right, It's our first C-rank mission!" Naruto added trying to be friendly, forgetting about his squabble with the Uchiha.

"Why are you so happy? You're not going to be doing anything." Kiba shot down, a little annoyed. _"Why is he standing so close to Hinata-chan?... This would have been so much better without the other two sausages floating around."_

"What do you mean I'm not going to be doing anything? We're gonna find and protect this guy right?" Naruto asked completely confused.

"Man, you really are stupid. Me and Hinata are the ones who are going to find him, that's why we were put on this mission, and the guy already has his own people to protect him, you're just tagging along. You really think the Hokage would give a C-rank mission to a dead last like you? Our sensei is out on a mission, so we needed yours to be able to go; you just came with the package." Kiba notified with a smug grin.

"Hey, I was the one that asked for this mission! We wouldn't even be here if the Hokage didn't want to give it to me, so shut your face dog breath!" Naruto shot back, a little ticked off.

"He probably felt sorry for you, and just gave you a nice easy mission where you can step back and do nothing while the real ninja get to work." Kiba said with his snide remark.

Hinata noticed the signs that the blonde was about to charge, and grabbed his shirt to hold him back. "I am a real ninja! You stupid-" Naruto snapped before his nose twitched and he looked in the direction of the smell. "Heh, he's here early for once... well for him at least."

"What are you talking about?" Kiba asked dumbfounded and then looked in the same direction.

"3, 2,1... YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto declared as the chronically late jounin appeared in front of them.

"_How'd the dobe know he was going to be here?" _Sasuke thought a little surprised. He noticed before how the blonde would look in the direction Kakashi was going to pop up in, but he couldn't tell if it was just dumb luck or if the boy actually knew something. This was the first time he actually predicted it before hand, so he was sure he knew somehow.

"_What the hell? I couldn't even smell him until he showed up... Akamaru noticed someone coming though a little while ago, but still... how did Naruto know?"_

"Mah, Mah. You see, I was on my way towards here when a vendor offered me some free candy, and who am I to refuse free candy right? So I take it and pop it in my mouth, but as soon as I did, I collapsed because it was poison. The man stole my money and then dumped my body in the trash bin. Luckily, it was a famous dining trash bin for the homeless, and one of them was kind enough to drag my unconscious body to the hospital. Next thing I know, I wake up in a white room in the clinic, the doctor came in and told me they gave me the antidote for the poison but also found something odd in my intestines. Apparently that coin drinking game I had with Asuma last night went for a couple of rounds, because I didn't even notice I swallowed almost 5 ryou in change by accident. They said I needed surgery to get it out, so I got it, and after the pain meds wore off, I went back to the vendor to arrest him and get my money back. That's why I'm late."

"LIAR!" Naruto and Kiba shouted in unison.

"_Who would believe such a lie..."_ Sasuke thought while he closed his eyes to hide his annoyance.

"_How can he still be standing?" _Hinata thought with her head tilted to the left as she looked at the oddity.

"Fine don't believe me..." Kakashi said in his regular voice as he popped out his book. His free hand however grabbed a small box, and offered it to Naruto. "Want some candy?"

"Uhh... no thank you, I can get my own..." Naruto responded a little fearful. _"I still don't believe him... but let's not take any chances."_

"Oh, then how about some money?" Kakashi persisted as he presented almost 5 ryou in change while eye smiling. "Get me some too..."

"You know what... I think I'm just good for now..." Naruto carefully refused, a little queasy as he eyed the coins.

"Alright then." Kakashi casually said as he shrugged his shoulders, but had a smile under his mask. "Ok team, you ready?...(nods)... Then let's head out."

* * *

[Mid afternoon]

"We almost there sensei?" Naruto asked getting a little annoyed of all the walking; he had too much energy to spare. The majority of the genin hadn't been trained in tree walking yet, so they weren't able to enhance their legs for longer leaps and hold on to branches with their feet, making running through the canopy impractical. Therefore they were forced to run all the way there, and would take walking breaks every now and then, but Naruto didn't seem to need it as much.

"It shouldn't be that far away by now." Kakashi answered still keeping his eye on his red book. They had been traveling for five hours north, and soon the gates of the large city they had to enter could be seen as they reached the top of the hill they were walking on. "Alright, let's pick up the pace the rest of the way there."

It didn't take long and soon they were in the city, but once they got in, the majority of the group looked surprised. "What the hell is going on!? This place is messed up!" Naruto commented as he took in the surroundings.

The cyclopean man decided to actually do his job. "It's a two weeklong festival in celebration of a victory they had, centuries before, against demons that wished to take over their town. They dressed up like the monsters to trick the demons into thinking they were one of them, and once they trusted them, the villagers killed them from within. Ever since then they would dress up, once a year, like their ancestors who fought during those times, but the whole thing has sort of been lost on them since now they just dress up as anything they want. Well it's the reason why they call this place Akuma no Zetsumei Gai." Kakashi educated as they walked through the costume wearing crowd.

Naruto couldn't help but to have a cold sweat. _"Death of the demon... city..."_

Arriving at the meeting point, they walked up to the front desk in the hotel to send a message to the occupants of one of the rooms. Five minutes later, a man and a female teen with aquamarine coloured hair walked in the room, both sporting forehead protectors of the hidden waterfall village on their person.

"So these are the ninja Konoha sent us... it's like their running a daycare service." The girl said as she sized up the preteens. "I wasn't expecting much, but I at least thought they'd take it a little more seriously than this... heck that short one looks like he still needs his diaper changed."

"Haha, who's the short one!?" Naruto laughed as he looked side to side.

Kiba: 151.2 cm. (Akamaru: 28 cm.)

Sasuke: 150.3 cm.

Hinata: 147.3 cm.

Naruto: 145.3 cm.

*twitch* "I'll kill you!" Naruto shouted, but was picked off the ground by Kakashi.

"What's the point of killing the people who're supposed to pay you?" Kakashi asked but sounded more like a statement. "Sorry for my student. Don't worry about the mission not being completed. I'm more than enough to locate your leader if my students are not."

"Kakashi-sensei, just put me down! I'm gonna teach her a lesson!"

"Kakashi? As in, Copy ninja Kakashi? It's an honour!" The man said as he took a deep bow.

"Now, now, there's no need for that." Kakashi humbly said feeling a little embarrassed. The genin looked on at their sensei with a sceptical eyebrow raised. "So you are our clients correct?"

"Hai, my name is Furukawa, and the person next to me is..." The man hesitated as he slightly slipped out a quick glare before continuing. "Fuu."

"Pleased to meet yah." The sixteen year old said in a happy tone. She was wearing a high white shirt, armlets and skirt, a fishnet waistband, and a red cylinder on her back strapped by two bands crossing over her chest.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves, can we get to the mission at hand?" The man asked as he sat down on one of the chairs in the lobby.

"Of course." Kakashi answered sitting across from him.

The group was then told about how their target Shibuki was an... extremely anxious man. The clients had come to this city two nights ago, but because of the festival, Shibuki became scared and tried running away, only to get lost within the large city. There were too many people dressed up like monsters and the like, so they believed their leader was constantly running around in fright within the city walls, which is why they hadn't found him yet.

"So he's just a scaredy cat..." Naruto concluded in a matter of fact voice.

"Shibuki-sensei is not a scaredy cat! He's a really strong shinobi!" Fu shouted as she slammed her foot down. Furukawa shot her a quick look of disapproval, and she quickly controlled her anger before continuing. "...he's just a little nervous than most..."

"Yes, well... I believe you already received a picture of him in the mission information, but here's something that belonged to him for your tracker there." Furukawa said as handed Kakashi an empty kunai pouch.

"Thank you, we'll start right away with the search, rest assured, we will find him." Kakashi stated as he stood back up.

"Word of warning Kakashi-san, we're close to the outer rim of the city, but if you go any closer to the center they will not let you in unless you're wearing a costume it seems."

"Thanks for the information." Kakashi said giving his U smile, and then looked towards his team. "Alright, leave your bags here, and let's head out."

After they stepped back out into the city, Kakashi pulled out the photo of Shibuki. "Ok, I want every one of you to take a good look at this picture, especially you Hinata." The jounin ordered getting a nod from the Hyuuga. He then pulled out the kunai pouch from earlier. "Also Kiba, take a whiff of this."

After the Inuzuka and his companion smelled the bag, Kakashi continued. "Now I'll put you into groups of two."

"_Please let me be with Hinata-chan, I want some actual alone time with her already!" _Kiba mentally begged.

"Kiba and Sasuke I want you to look around the city near the wall. Hinata and Naruto, you'll take the center of the city." Kakashi organized as he went back to his book.

"_M-me and Naruto-kun... in the city... alone... while there's a festival... it's kind of like a d- No, no, no! What am I thinking? This is just a mission!" _Hinata thought with a blush as she ducked her head a little bit inside her jacket.

"What! Why don't I get to search with Hinata? We're on the same team. Wouldn't it be better for Sasuke and Naruto as well since they already work together? And why do I have to go around the city? Why can't it just be east and west?" Kiba argued a little angry.

Kakashi sighed as he lowered his book, but then gave a hard glare to the dog owner. "Kiba, you and Hinata are supposed to be the two trackers. It would be more effective if I spread you two out to cover more ground. Naruto and Sasuke are just going with you guys as backup in case something should happen. I put Hinata in the center because it's the most efficient place to use her abilities. Also, the center holds the most people, and a lot of different food stalls because of the festival. Do you really want to overwhelm yourself and Akamaru by trying to filter through all of them?"

"Uh... well, no..." Kiba cowered as he shrunk back from the jounin's lone eye.

"Then never question my orders again before thinking, you understand?" The ex-Anbu captain asked in his authoritative voice, getting a rapidly nodding Inuzuka. "Good, now get to work!"

"H-hai!" The boy said as he ran away from group.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and followed the boy. _"Cheh... The mutt's running away with his tail between his legs."_

"Ok Hinata, let's go." Naruto happily said and started walking off until a hand grabbed his shoulder and held him into place.

"Wait Naruto, I want you to take a smell of this too." Kakashi requested as he presented the pouch again. _"I've noticed him being able to sniff some things out before, but this should be a good test to find out exactly how strong it is." _

"Um, ok... but I don't know what good it'll do." Naruto said a little confused but shrugged his shoulders and smelled the bag. "Funky... alright I did it, we'll see you later sensei, and we'll definitely come back with that scaredy cat first, dattebayo!"

Kakashi was now alone, but he soon pocketed his erotic novel to bite his thumb before running through some hand-seals. _**"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"**_

Seven dogs soon appeared, and the smallest one raised its paw before speaking. "Yo, Kakashi."

"Hello Pakkun, I have a job for you." Kakashi said and then bent down to put his hand near the dog's nose. "I want you to follow one of my students; his sent should be on my hand still. He's traveling with a Hyuuga girl. I just want you to watch over them from a distance, and then tell me later what they did. Be careful though, the boy might be able to smell me off you, but his skill isn't that good, so keep a safe distance."

"Hai." Pakkun said as it ran off.

Kakashi then presented the pouch to the other dogs. "The rest of you... I want you to look for a guy who smells like this."

* * *

[Just outside the center of the city]

"N-Naruto-kun... are you s-s-sure about this?..." Hinata asked from behind a changing room.

"One hundred percent! All the girls here seem to be wearing costumes to look sexy, and if we don't want to stick out, we have to blend in. I know you don't want to wear the underwear type costume, so this is perfect." Naruto reassured from within the costume shop they were in. It was decided that if they didn't want to be bothered or interrupted by the citizens of the city, they would have to dress like them as much as possible to blend in with the crowd. "So come on out and let me see it already."

"O-ok... I trust you N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she hesitantly opened the door. She walked out dressed in a shrine maiden's outfit which had separated sleeves that were held on by a thin strip of fabric, allowing for her pale creamy shoulders to be exposed. Also instead of the traditional red, it was a dark blue which matched nicely with her hair. "H-How do I l-l-look?"

"_Th-this is Hinata?" _Naruto mentally asked, astonished by the new appearance. However, he quickly composed himself, and cupped his chin to act the part of judge. "Spin around for me."

"O... O-ok." Hinata complied with rosy cheeks as she timidly pivoted.

"You look really hot in it Hinata, I think anybody who sees you will think that!" Naruto complimented giving a good guy pose.

Hinata's face went completely red, like a lobster's, when she heard those words come out of Naruto's mouth. _"D-did Naruto-kun... just call me... hot?..."_

* * *

[Inside Hinata's head]

"Hot? How does he know the status of the ship without touching it? What does he mean by hot?" Captain Hinata questioned, and then spun right around on her chair. "Communications officer Hinata, what can you make of this strange dialect?"

"It's very peculiar captain."

"Peculiar? How so?" Captain Hinata enquired as she got up from her chair and walked over to the communications officer.

"Well, it would seem to be a compliment ma'am. He seems to be praising us on our appearance... I believe he finds us attractive captain."

"Attractive... Naruto-kun... finds me... attractive?" Captain Hinata asked more to herself. The shock of the information was too much, for she lost the strength in her legs to hold herself up.

"Captain!" The com officer exclaimed before catching her dazed captain under the arms. She tried getting the girl's legs under her feet, but they just seemed to act like wet noodles.

"Attractive... me, attractive..." The captain mumbled to herself over and over again.

"Captain, get a hold on yourself!"

"Huh?" Captain Hinata intelligently responded, and slowly turned her head up to look at the com officer in the face, but when she did all she saw was Naruto as her mind played tricks on her. "Naruto-kuuuun."

The com officer was caught off guard when her captain's hands went around her neck, and soft loving lips pressed up against hers. Her eyes went wide and she tried to resist until the wonderful feeling got to her. With no will to disobey, she kissed back with as much intensity as her captain was expressing. Sneaky hands soon squeezed each of her bottom cheeks firmly, but the feeling of being handled so roughly was intoxicating, so she did the same thing by grasping both of her captain's breasts. The feeling of a wet tongue licking her lips was then felt next, and slowly complying she parted her lips to-

"Aghum!" the one known as Lieutenant Hinata interrupted. The sudden couple broke apart their make out session, and looked around the room that was staring at the both of them with curiosity and a hint of lust. "I believe you have gone far enough Captain..."

"Uh, yes well... nothing to see here anymore. Carry on all of you." Captain Hinata said a little hot and bothered as she took command of the room again. She was about to walk back to her chair when she felt a slap against her rear. Looking back at the attacker, she saw the com officer mouthing the words 'Call me' before she went back to work. _"Curse you Naruto-kun! Curse you and your nice fine ass!"_

* * *

[Back with Naruto and Hinata]

"Th-th-th-thank y-y-you N-N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said still sporting the same blush as she poked her fingers together.

The look, he always thought of as weird, made him blush a little, and he had to turn his head the other way as he scratched it. "Uh, yeah... n-no problem." Naruto slightly stuttered, but then shook his head to get himself back to normal. "Ok, let's leave and go searching for that guy."

"B-but I haven't p-paid for the c-costume yet N-Naruto-kun."

"Don't worry about it. I already paid for it while you were changing." Konoha's surprising ninja said with a smile, and then created a clone to bag Hinata's regular clothes and take it back to the hotel where her bags are.

"Y-y-you d-didn't have t-to d-do th-that N-Naruto-kun, I h-have some m-money w-with me." Hinata offered in concern as she reached for her cash.

"It's fine Hinata. They have a no return rule here, because they know people have to buy a costume if they want to get into the festival, and I didn't want you to waste your money for something I picked out for you." Naruto informed as he put both hands behind his head and started walking out of the store. "Plus Kiba was right a little bit. I can't really help on this mission, so I wanted to at least do something."

"Th-that's not true! Y-you're a big h-help Naruto-kun." Hinata shouted before she went back down to her regular whisper like voice. _"You're always a big help to me..."_

"Thanks Hinata." Naruto said with a true smile as he looked back at the girl. "Besides, this shop has given me so much; I'd just feel wrong if I didn't give them anything."

"Wh-what are you t-talking about Naruto-kun? You didn't pick out a costume yet."

A grin appeared on the boy's face before he formed a seal. **"Oiroke no Jutsu – Ero Shouzoku!" (Sexy Jutsu – Erotic Costume!) **Naruto was soon replaced by the voluptuous Naruko wearing an orange fur tank top that covered her cleavage but was so high that it could barely contain her breast, as one could see the bottom half of them under the nipples. She wore matching short shorts that nicely took the shape of her ass, while exposing a little bit of each cheek near the bottom, and to finish it off, orange fox ears and a tail with white tips. "So what do you think Hinata? You think I can blend in with this."

"B-but it's s-s-s-so r-revealing N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata gave her observation with a cherry red face. _"I'd die of embarrassment if I walked out like that!"_

"That's the point, remember? All the women in this city are dressing in revealing clothes."

"Th-that's t-t-true b-but-"

"Great! Then let's go!" Naruko recommended as she once again started leaving the store, and Hinata complied as she followed along. Excitement soon filled Naruko's eyes as she turned to the heiress once they had entered the center of the city. "Come on, use it already Hinata, I want to see it again!"

"Um... o-ok N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a light blush on her face. Her hands then formed her family's seal as she concentrated her chakra. _**"Byakugan!"**_

The veins around her eyes bulged once she activated her kekkai genkai. "Wow... it doesn't matter how many times I see that, it's just cool every time!" Naruto said astound as he got up close to Hinata's face to take a closer look at the veins around her eyes. He couldn't help but remember the first time he saw her use it.

* * *

[Flashback 9 days ago, Forest right outside Konoha]

"So what does jiji want us to do again?" Naruto asked as he looked towards his temporary sensei.

"There is a small medicinal herb in this forest that we have to collect for the hospital." Anko informed, and then took out a large black garbage bag. "... you have to pick enough to fill this."

"Well that sounds easy, all I have to do it just pick them up really fast right? But why do I have a shovel."

"The herbs are all underground." Anko casually said while looking at her nails like it was no big thing.

"Oh, underground huh..." The blonde accepted before he really thought about it.

Anko's fingers fell down one after another as she counted down in her head. _"Five... four... three... two...!"_

"EH!!!" Naruto shouted in disbelief. "How the hell am I supposed to find something I can't see!? I'll be digging all day! What's in that pipe jiji keeps smoking!?"

"Calm down Naruto, it's covered, don't worry about it." Anko stated as she grabbed a twig off the ground and handed it to the Hyuuga. "Now, if you wouldn't mind Hinata-chan, can you help Naruto out?"

"Hinata?..." Naruto asked confused before looking over to the girl.

"H-hai A-Anko-sensei." Hinata agreed as she activated her doujutsu. _**"Byakugan!"**_

The dead last's eyes widened when he saw the change to Hinata's orbs. _"I-I've seen those eyes before... when Mizuki attacked..." _Naruto remembered in awe as he stared.

"_Oh no, Naruto-kun is looking at my eyes!" _Hinata panicked as she turned her head and covered her now somewhat whiter eyes. _"They we're ugly before, but now... he probably thinks they're hideous!"_

"P-please, d-d-don't l-look at th-them N-N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata stuttered while tears built up at the corner of her eyes. "I-I kn-know th-th-they're d-different, and u-u-ugly. S-s-s-so p-p-please, don't l-l-look a-at m-."

"They're so COOL!" Naruto proclaimed and then ran up to the girl. "You're eyes were pretty before, but now they're just awesome! What do they do, what do they do!?"

"_D-did Naruto-kun say my eyes were pretty... before I used the Byakugan?" _Hinata picked off the little bit of information the blonde had let slip out of his mouth, and couldn't help the blush that formed from the shocking news.

"It's called the Byakugan Naruto." Anko answered getting the boy's attention before she continued. "It's a special technique that can only be passed down through blood. Everyone in the Hyuuga family can do the same thing. When they use it, they can see 360o degrees around themselves, see through objects, see things from over a couple kilometers in distance, and the best thing of all; they can see chakra, including the chakra system that runs throughout your body. Plus there are a few other things, but I'll tell you about it some other time."

"That's... amazing..." Naruto absorbed, a little astonished before he turned back to the girl who had her hands down now. "You're so cool Hinata! I wish I had eyes like yours!"

"N-NO!" Hinata protested with a hint of fright in her voice as she took a step towards the village outcast. She caught herself with that shameful behaviour, and took the step back before retreating a little into her jacket out of embarrassment. "G-gomen, th-th-that's not-... Wh-what I mean is... I-I like y-y-your e-eyes N-N-Naruto-kun... p-please d-don't th-th-think of ch-changing them..."

A pink tint formed on Naruto's face as he just stared at the girl for a little bit because of her statement, but his hand soon started scratching the back of his head as he chuckled. "Haha, well it's not like I can really change them even if I wanted too. So don't worry about it." Naruto relieved before his curious blue eyes locked on the girl again. "Hey Hinata... I was wondering... can I touch them?"

"Eh?" Hinata intelligently answered as she calmed herself down a bit from before.

"Will you let me touch your face around your eyes?"

"Y-y-you w-want to t-t-t-t-touch my f-f-f-"

"Please!" Naruto begged as he clasped both of his hands.

Hinata just looked at his puppy dog eyes and his quivering bottom lip... there was no way she could deny him. "O... o-ok..."

A smile, like a kid getting a new toy, appeared on his face as he brought up his hand to brush his fingers over the bulging veins. The shy girl took a breath in to prepare herself, but flinched from the first stroke, which terrified Naruto. "I-I'm so sorry Hinata! Did I hurt you!?"

"N-no N-Naruto-kun... it's j-just really s-s-sensitive... i-it tickled a b-bit..." Hinata replied with a deep blush after the intimate touch. _"No one has touched me there before... I-It tickled, but it felt kind of nice..."_

"Alright, that's enough messing around. We need Hinata to mark on the ground so we know where to dig, and I don't want her wasting her chakra just so you can have your little fun Naruto." Anko intruded with a smirk as she ruffled the blonde's head and then turned to the Hyuuga. "Oh yeah, before I forget... What's your chakra level Hinata-chan?"

"I-It's a l-l-level 1..."

"Level 1? That's pretty rare... Most girls have a 1.5..." Anko said to herself as she muddled it over, but the others could hear.

"Levels? 1.5? What are you talking about nee-chan?" The dead last enquired, completely dumbfounded.

"You mean you don't know what chakra levels are?" Anko posed and got a nod from the boy. She let out a sigh of annoyance as she did the temporary job she agreed to do. "Chakra level is a value that tells us how much chakra is within someone's body. Level 1 is the lowest, while level 5 is the highest... Well it could go higher than that, but the odds of someone having that much chakra is very slim."

"Oooh... so what's my level?" Naruto asked still looking towards Anko as if she would know.

"I-It's around a level 4 Naruto-kun..." Hinata answered the boy's question since she could see his core.

"Hn, I was guessing closer to 3.5... I'm a little surprised you have the same amount of chakra as me." Anko commented as she put her hands on her hips. _"But damn... at his age, to be a level 4 is-"_

"Wow! I have the same level of chakra as nee-chan! That means I'm as strong as a special jounin! I wonder how much more I have to train until I reach Kakashi-sensei's chakra level or a Kage's level!?" Naruto stupidly quizzed himself, and then felt a kunai graze his cheek as it whizzed by.

"Who said anything about you being as strong as me?" Anko questioned from behind the boy while holding both his arms behind his back with one hand, and then licked the blood from the side of his cheek. "Mhmmm, pretty tasty otouto."

"_I didn't even see her move!? Is she as fast as Kakashi-sensei?"_

"_Naruto-kun!" _Hinata thought alarmed when she saw the blood.

"Just because you have the same level of chakra as me, doesn't mean you're as strong as me. Hell, my chakra level is pretty rare for even a guy, but to find it in a woman is nearly impossible." She said before letting go. "Oh and that lazy ass you call a sensei is only a level 3, the same goes for the Hokage."

"B-but Kakashi-sensei is so strong, and isn't jiji supposed to be the strongest? How can they have less chakra than me?"

"Baka, the level doesn't matter. What determines your strength and rank is your skill. There's no such thing as jounin level chakra, or Kage level chakra. Heck, there was even a person who took out an entire clan by himself, and he only had a 2.5 chakra level." Anko said as she thought of a certain Uchiha.

"But then... how are they so much stronger if they have less chakra? Doesn't it mean they'll run out faster?"

"Yes that's true. People with chakra levels like ours are generally good at using big jutsu that do a lot of damage to a large area. We have more chakra, so we can waste it without feeling tired, and can keep going one fight after another. However, people with less chakra like Hinata have very special chakra. They're more efficient with it, and certain types of jutsu become easier for them to use. It's very hard to beat someone like that on a one on one fight. Also people in the middle, like oji-san, are well rounded, but there are always exceptions to any of these."

"So Hinata could be stronger than me?" Naruto asked as he looked towards the Heiress. "But if I'm a 4 and Hinata is a 1... I can just try to tire her out before she beats me."

"Yes that's one tactic that some people try to use."

"But still, I can't believe Kakashi-sensei only has three quarters of the chakra I have!"

Anko just face palmed at that. _"What did they teach him at the academy?" _She thought a little frustrated. "No Naruto... Each level is twice the amount of the one before it. So a level 3 is only half of a level 4. If you compare it with someone like Hinata, you have 8 times more chakra than her."

"Wow I have that much chakra?... So since I can't have small chakra or average chakra anymore, I just have to train my chakra more to make it bigger and reach level 5, right?" Naruto asked excitedly, but his lack of an education caused a vein to pop up on Anko's forehead.

"_I'm gonna kill the academy teacher that didn't have enough sense to at least teach this." _The torturer mentally vowed before relaxing herself. Hinata seemed to know all of these things beforehand, so Anko knew there must have been some foul play when it came to teaching the village outcast in the academy. She had been teaching him, within these past 4 days, things that should have been covered within the academy, and she knew she was going to have to spend most of her time in the future getting him to at least a basic level of understanding. "Naruto... you can't train to have more chakra and it's not like you chose to have little chakra either."

"Why not? That makes no sense." Naruto questioned in disbelief. _"I've been training all this time, and every year it gets bigger."_

*Sigh* "Hinata, why don't you start marking the ground while I teach this baka a few things." Anko suggested before she sat down on the ground and motioned for Naruto to do the same. "Naruto... remember yesterday when you called chakra, catra, and then we went into a big explanation of what chakra was."

"Um, yeah. You said chakra was made up of physical energy and spiritual energy. Physical energy comes from the body, and spiritual energy comes from training and experience." Naruto repeated his lesson from before that he sucked up like a sponge.

"That's right, now I want you to keep that in your mind while I explain a few new things." She said, and waited for the nod before continuing. "Physical energy cannot be increased naturally. It's a fix amount, determined since the day you were born, and your body tries to reach it as it grows up. You're only a kid right now, but you'll reach your max amount of physical energy when you become an adult. It doesn't matter if you have a lot of muscles, are really fat, or super skinny, you will always have the same amount of physical energy."

"So... it doesn't matter how much I train... I can't get more chakra because I can only increase my spiritual energy?"

"That's right, training for spiritual energy is what grants you access to all your potential chakra by mixing with your fixed physical energy, but if there's no more physical energy, you can't make chakra. That's why oji-san is a level 3, it's not like he can increase it to a higher level." Anko enlightened. _"Although he used to be a 3.5, but maybe I should tell him later that you lose a bit of chakra when you get too old."_

The boy just stared at the ground as he took in all this information. It was a lot to process, and it shattered a lot of his beliefs about chakra. After a little while of thinking it over, he accepted it and looked back up at Anko. "Thanks nee-chan... for teaching me all these things. I'm really grateful."

The traitor's student blushed from the sincerity in the boy's words. "Y-you're welcome... otouto." Anko replied in a soft voice, and there was a pregnant pause between the two before she decided to break it as she stood up swiftly. "Alright, enough wasting time, get to work already!"

"Hai!" The boy said as he put his hands in a familiar seal while holding the shovel under his arm. **"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

* * *

[End flashback, back with Naruto and Hinata]

The heiress just blushed at the fact that Naruto was only a few inches away staring at her eyes... even if he was in the form of a girl; he still had those deep blue eyes. _"H-he's so close to me again... Why does my face feel so hot?..."_

"Hey, Hinata are you alright? You look a little warm... is it because of all the extra clothes? Wait here. I'll go get us some water." Naruko worried, and then sped off before the girl could say anything.

"_N-Naruto-kun..."_

Two minutes later.

Naruko came back carrying two bottles of cold water, but as he was walking back to Hinata, he saw her surrounded by a couple of guys.

"Hey baby, what's a pretty thing like you doing here by herself?"

"That's a nice costume you got on there, how'd you get your eyes to look all scary like that?"

"So did you wear this because you're still a virgin, or are you really just a naughty girl that wants to look all pure and innocent?"

"You got yourself a boyfriend cutie?"

"No, she has herself a girlfriend." Naruko interrupted as she slipped inside the group and closely hugged Hinata from her side, dropping the bottles in the process.

"Cheh, like I'm going to believe she's a lesbian."

"It's true. I'm her little demon toy while she's my master. Right master?" Naruko said as she looked towards Hinata. Without warning, to enforce the message that she was the heiress's pet, she slowly licked the side of the Hyuuga's face over the extremely sensitive bulging veins of her activated doujutsu.

The shy girl's eyes widened as electricity seemed to run through her entire body. Her face went redder than the blood leaking from the noses of the teens watching, and her knees became weak, but Naruko was able to hold her in place as she responded. "R-r-r-r-r-right." Hinata stuttered as her mind went on overload. _"He licked me! Naruto-kun licked my f-f-f-f-"_

One of the teens then stepped forward. "I don't care if she's your girlfriend, master, or whatever. I'll make the both of you mine." The guy said as he brought a hand up to cup Hinata's chin, but Naruko slapped it away before he could.

"tisk-tisk-tisk... such a bad boy. Master doesn't like being touched by people she doesn't know... especially filthy people like yourselves." Naruko said as she wagged her finger at the group. She had let go of Hinata after the girl was able to stand back up on her feet.

"You stupid bitch, I'll show you your place!" The teen declared and the grabbed Naruko's forearm.

"Big mistake." Naruko said as she twisted her hand around the pinkie side of the guy's grasp so that he would lose his grip, and then grabbed said pinkie, gave it a yank, to bend it far enough so that it would break and he couldn't grab anything with it again. A front kick was then delivered to the guys abdomen to push him back and make some space. Naruko's hands formed a cross shaped seal as she called out the name of the jutsu in her head. _**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**_

As the smoke appeared, the sound of another jutsu went off while the bunshin were still veiled. _**"Harem no Jutsu – Ero Shouzoku!" **_Naruko mentally yelled, and when the smoke cleared, all the teens couldn't help but to be stunned at what they saw. One sexy outfit after another were lined up for them, nurse, cat, teacher, cow, devil, bunny, witch, etc. While the boys were distracted and bleeding through their noses, the fox Naruko snuck up behind them, and took them out with a strong chop between the back of the skull and the neck. "That was easy enough... well it isn't a military city I guess."

"Come on Hinata, they'll be out for a while. Let's keep on looking." Naruko said and then passed one of the dropped bottles from before. "Here's your water."

"Th-thank you N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said catching the bottle before complying as she caught up with the fox.

Naruko brought up his hands to dispel the clones until an idea hit her, and she got her doubles' attention. "Hey, I want all of you to search around the city where we aren't. Ask anyone if they've seen that scaredy cat, and pop if you got any good leads." The others nodded before running off in different directions, and she couldn't help the smirk plastered on her face. "Heh, who says I can't be useful to find someone?"

An hour later.

The heiress was getting tired. She had kept up the act of being fine, but traveling for so long, and then having to walk around a city in search of someone with her kekkai genkai activated so long was affecting her. Even though she rested the first half of the day, it was still hard on her with such low levels of physical energy. It helped though when Naruto bought them food from the stalls as they walked along, she could at least keep the search going for a couple more hours.

However it didn't look like they would have too for long as Naruto seemed to be leading they're walk as if he could tell where the man was. He would always mention the direction they were heading in when one of his bunshin popped, and always asked if she saw him anywhere when he felt they were close. It really helped having the clones cover so much ground.

Hinata's Byakugan had a range of 1 kilometer when she concentrated on one spot from a distance, but it was pretty useless when in the middle of a town filled with thousands of people. She had to rely on her instantaneous vision, the 45 meters she could see all around herself at once. She could see everyone and everything within that radius, but it was a pretty small space when compared to the size of the city. Well at least it was a lot better than relying on regular vision.

Although they were moving slowly, they're search seemed to be spiralling closer to a certain area, and the blonde could sense he was close. _"He has to be here... I just know it." _Naruko thought, not noticing she was following a smell she had been exposed to not too long ago. The determined look on her face as she walked forward was only broken when she heard a voice behind her speak.

"N-Naruto-kun, I see h-him at 2 o-o'clock! He's h-hiding in that b-building over th-there!" Hinata exclaimed as she pointed in the direction.

"Sweet, nice job Hinata!" Naruko said as she ran towards the structure.

Once they entered, they saw a man with long brown hair cowering in the corner with his face hidden behind his knees. "P-please, don't hurt me!"

Naruko only rolled her eyes before casually walking up to the man and then tapping on his shoulder. The man looked up and all he saw was a giant scary head ten times the size it should have been. "BOO!"

"AAAAHHH!" The man screamed before he passed out in fright.

"Hehe, now he can't run. I'll have to thank Iruka-sensei for teaching me how to do that." Naruko said as she rubbed under her nose with a finger. She then created two clones to carry the dead weight. "Alright, time to get this guy back to the hotel."

"Ha-... h-hai..." Hinata agreed a little tiredly as she deactivated her doujutsu.

They walked out the building, and made their way towards the meeting point. When they crossed the border of the festival, Naruko turned off the henge and went back to Naruto. However Hinata was swaying and stumbling as she walked.

"Hey Hinata, are you alright?" Naruko asked in concern as he looked back at the girl.

"I-I'm fine... I'm j-just a l-little tired N-Naruto-kun... I-it's nothing to be w-worried a-" She couldn't finish her sentence as she tripped on her own feet. The blonde acted fast, and was able to move to catch her. "Th-thank you Na-EEP!"

The heiress was surprised when two arms came behind her and lifted her off the ground. "I'm carrying you the rest of the way Hinata." Naruto stated but made it sound like an order.

Hinata's face went instantly red from the embarrassing position. "B-b-b-but-"

"No buts, you pushed yourself too far. Just relax and get better, or nee-chan would kill me if she found out." He said with a shiver going down his spine, but then looked down at the girl in his arms with a smile. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Hinata stopped her resistance, and tried hiding her hot face with the long sleeves of her priestess costume. _"Naruto-kun is carrying me, but why is he carrying me like this!?"_

It didn't take long for them to get back to the hotel, and when they did they saw Fuu waiting in the lobby.

"_Has she been waiting here all this time?" _Naruto wondered as he walked into the room.

"N-N-Naruto-kun, I-I-I-I'm f-fine n-now, y-y-you c-can l-let m-m-me d-down." Hinata shyly said, and the boy complied.

It seemed to bring Fuu's attention to them when she heard the noise. The worried look that was on her face moments ago was replaced with anger when she saw Shibuki in the arms of two blondes. "Wh-what did you do to Shibuki-sensei!"

"I didn't do anything to him. He just passed out from being scared." Naruto claimed as he stared back at the pink eyes sending daggers at him. The teen took the body from the clones without a word, and put him on the couch within the lobby. "Hey, do you mind if Hinata can use one of your rooms to change? I don't think she wants to keep wearing the costume when the others come."

"... Sure... here's the key to my room, it's separate from the other two." Fuu said in a somewhat exhausted voice as the anger from before didn't see to last. _"I'm just glad Shibuki-sensei is safe..."_

"Th-thank you." Hinata said as she grabbed the dangling key, and then carried the bag that Naruto's clone had dropped off earlier before she headed for the elevator.

Just then Kakashi had entered the lobby. "Ah, so I see you and Hinata were the ones to find the target. Very good Naruto." Kakashi said with an eye smile. _"I wasn't expecting him to find the man in an hour and a half... he spent a third of that time just picking out a costume for the girl and dealing with those thugs... It took my dogs 20 minutes, but still it's impressive."_

"Hehe, thanks sensei." The dead last said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well it's starting to get late, and I don't think it's a good idea to keep the client in this city any longer. Let's head out, and make camp north of here in the forest once everyone comes back here." Kakashi suggested and had already sent Pakkun to retrieve the other two genin.

* * *

[Forest north of the city, midnight]

The now larger group had set up camp when they found a safe spot to sleep. Naruto and Hinata were given the first shift of surveillance because they found the target, and their time was coming to an end.

"Man I'm tired... but that food at the festival sure was good, don't you think so Hinata?" Naruto offhandedly asked as he walked towards a tent.

"H-hai, it was v-very good N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata said as she walked towards her own tent.

The camp was set up with 4 tents. The ones from Taki shared one, Kakashi and Sasuke shared one, Hinata had one, and Naruto and Kiba shared one with Akamaru. As the blonde opened up the tent, a smell was instantly noticed. "What the hell! Hey dog breath, your dog pissed in my bed!" Naruto tried shouting in a whisper.

"Mrrr... so?" Kiba asked half awake.

"What do you mean so!? Your dog pissed in my bed! How am I supposed to go to sleep!?" Naruto repeated getting infuriated.

"... It's not like I can clean it for you out here... plus it's your bed, so not my problem." Kiba answered absolutely not caring in his semi unconscious state.

Naruto was about to bash the boy's head in when he heard a voice. "N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata called out getting the boy's attention after she noticed the situation he was in. _"Just say it... he needs your help..."_

Because she was a Hyuuga, the deluxe sleeping bag she had was large enough so that one could have room to move around as they slept. So large in fact that it could easily fit two people inside.

The village outcast calmed himself down before he spoke. "Oh don't worry Hinata, it's fine. I don't mind, I can just sleep outside, and wash my bag tomorrow." Naruto said to the Heiress thinking she was worried about her teammate. _"Got to keep it together... I can't just beat up one of her teammates... no matter how annoying he is..."_

"N-no th-that's not wh-what-..." Hinata started off but stopped to gulp down the lump in her throat before she continued. "I w-was... I-I-I w-w-was-..."

"Yes?" Naruto posed getting a little confused by her behaviour.

"I-I-I w-was w-w-w-wondering i-if you w-want t-to... s-since y-y-your b-b-bag is d-damaged... i-if y-y-y-you w-would w-w-want t-t-to s-s-sleep w-with m-m-m-m-me i-in m-my b-b-bag!?"

* * *

Next chapter: The Sound of Rain

A/N: Oh god I'm evil for leaving it like that... nothing worse than an ero-cliffy, but really this chapter would be too long if I wrote it in... =P

Now that I've explained some things about chakra, I would like to make one thing clear. I DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER PERSON SAY "Kage level chakra" CAUSE THERE'S NO SUCH THING. (those chakra level stats for Naruto, Anko, Sarutobi, and Kakashi are all correct... look it up. I only tweaked Hinata's from a 1.5 to a 1, but the reason for that will come later.)

I hope that people who read this will notice that there is no way to train someone to gain more chakra naturally. Now some of you may say that Kyubi's chakra is being fed into Naruto's system slowly... but that's an exception because it's a kinjutsu, and he doesn't have to train for something like that since it automatically happens... very slowly (took Naruto 3 years to go from 4 to 5... and he was growing during that time too, so most of it is just from his body maturing). There are actually ways to increase a chakra level, but every way so far in the manga has shown to be some sort of kinjutsu, and I'll get into those later =D

Last chapter I believe I wrote, "Her body was covered in bruises before the MEDICS FIXED HER UP, but it was still sore, including a few of her organs." However I think the one line wasn't enough because people asked me why no one noticed any bruises... well I hope the longer explanation I wrote up there cleared that up. =)

Oh and also praise has to go to P5yCH0 for suggesting the new summary. The number of visitors have doubled because of it, and I got a nice increase in reviews... Now let's just hope this continues. *crosses fingers*


	6. The Sound of Rain

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and thank god for that. Did you see the new ending for the anime episodes? It's just Hinata, but it barely even looks like here and it was completely pointless. If I did own Naruto, I'd probably kill myself if I agreed to put crap like that out.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Sound of Rain

"I-I-I w-was w-w-w-wondering i-if you w-want t-to... s-since y-y-your b-b-bag is d-damaged... i-if y-y-y-you w-would w-w-want t-t-to s-s-sleep w-with m-m-m-m-me i-in m-my b-b-bag!?"

"Y-you'd let me sleep in your bag... with you?" Naruto questioned as he stared at the bluenette in disbelief. _"I've never even been invited to a sleepover by someone my own age, and she's offering to sleep in the same bed?" _

The girl gave a nod in response as she grasped the bottom of her jacket tightly to try and manipulate her feeling of embarrassment.

"... Thanks Hinata... but I don't want to bother you with m-"

"I-It's not a bother!" She quickly claimed, surprisingly clearly before her stutter appeared once again. "N-N-Naruto-kun w-worked really h-hard today... You were u-using k-kage b-bunshin for so l-long, Anko-sensei e-explained how exhausting it can g-get u-using that jutsu. I-I know you n-need to r-rest w-well after something l-like that."

"But won't it be cramped for two people to be sleeping in one bag?"

"I-It's big enough f-for two, b-but if y-you want your o-own bag to sleep i-in, I c-can sleep o-outside a-a-and-"

"No!" Naruto cut in a little authoritatively. "You almost fell over a few hours ago, you need to sleep too Hinata!"

"B-b-but-"

"Agh, ok!" Naruto loudly whispered a little frustrated as he scratched his scalp with both hands for ideas. He wasn't angry at her, he knew she just wanted to help, but he couldn't think of a way to not be a nuisance and satisfy her need to aid him at the same time. "*Sigh*...We'll sleep in the same bag... thank you Hinata..."

"Wow... it's almost like you're reading right out of my book." A cyclopean man commented from behind the blonde, surprising both children, while his nose was dug into an orange covered novel. "You didn't take a peek at it when I wasn't looking did you Naruto?"

"K-Kakashi-sensei! Th-this isn't what it looks like!" The preteen, sporting a pink hue, protested after he turned around to look up at the man. "I-I'm not a pervert!"

"Calm down Naruto, I didn't say you were..." Kakashi casually said as he acted as if he licked his finger to turn the page, even though he was still wearing his mask. "Well as long as you don't continue on to page 68 and 69 that is..."

"Eh?" The confused boy asked since he hadn't figured out what the book was yet.

The silver haired man just gave the blonde a U shaped eye smile before ruffling his hair. "Just forget it for now... but you know, it's not really seen as proper conduct to force a boy and girl to sleep under the same tent. Women have a right to sleep in a separate tent if they want to under Konoha's laws."

Naruto looked a little relieved now that he had an excuse. "Alright... guess I should just find a nice place outside th-."

"Then again... she did invite you, so it's not considered being forced." The Icha Icha fan mentioned before giving a good push to the village outcast towards the heiress's tent.

"Kakash-"

"We're shinobi Naruto; death can come at us at any moment, so it's best to be at 100 percent... even if that means having to share a bed with someone." Kakashi said a little more sternly before switching back to a friendly tone of voice. "Don't worry; I'll wake you up before anyone notices."

"B-but-"

"I'll take Sasuke out now to do our shift, ja ne!" Kakashi notified as he walked away.

"_What just happened?" _Naruto mentally asked as his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"N-N-Naruto-kun?..." Hinata spoke in concern as she tried to get the boys attention. _"D-did I do something wrong?"_

The _demon child_ just looked back over his shoulder at his only friend, and the expression on her face instantly made him regret how he acted. _"She's just trying to help me like a friend, and the only thing I've done is think about how not to bother her by pushing her away... I really am an idiot." _Naruto scolded himself, but then plastered on his regular fox like grin and scratched the back of his head as he walked up to the tent. "Hehe, well you heard Kakashi-sensei... I guess we should get to bed, sorry about this."

"_He's bothered... maybe I really did do something wrong."_ Hinata noticed as she looked at the fake expression on the boy's face. "N-Naruto-kun... d-d-did I-... are y-you u-uncomfortable with-... you d-d-don't have to s-s-s-sleep with m-me if you d-don't w-want to N-Naruto-kun..."

"Why wouldn't I want to sleep with you? We're friends right? I'd do the same thing for you Hinata." Naruto reassured in a calm voice as he gave her a true smile.

"H-hai... f-friends..." Hinata repeated with a small smile on her face as she poked her fingers together. _"He still wants to be my friend... I'm so happy."_

The boy motioned for the heiress to enter first, and he followed after her. _"It really is big..." _Naruto observed when he saw the large sleeping bag. He then undid his forehead protector from his shoulder, and the bandage wrap on the same arm soon followed after... that is until he remembered what it had been wrapped around almost two weeks ago. _"You're not a pervert! Stop thinking about Hinata's b-b-b-b- Argh!"_

The image of her bare chest seemed to pleasurably haunt him every now and then, and he unconsciously looked towards the girl, hopping to see her covered chest, so that he could 'try' to replace the memory... However the sight of her pale smooth back was what met his eyes as she pulled her jacket over her head, unknowingly causing her undershirt to ride up along with it. A blush appeared on his face, and his hand instantly came up to cover his eyes. "H-Hinata, wh-what are you doing!?"

"Eh?" Hinata enquired after pulling the jacket off and looked over her shoulder at the boy, until she noticed the bottom of her shirt clinging to her shoulders. "Eep!"

With hands as fast as lightning, she pulled her shirt back down with one hand and unconsciously covered her chest with the other, even though it was still masked by the shirt and her wrappings. She quickly made it to the opening of the bag, and slipped in so that she could cover herself up fully to her nose to hide the blush. "G-g-g-g-gomen, I-I was just t-taking o-o-off m-my j-jacket s-so I-I c-c-could s-sleep p-p-properly."

"Y-yeah... so you could sleep properly..." The preteen reiterated as he calmed himself down. _"What was I thinking? It's not like she was stripping down to her underwear like nee-chan or something... Hinata isn't that kind of girl."_

"_Oh god, Naruto-kun saw so much of me. I could just die!" _Hinata thought feeling mortified as she sunk lower into the bag... not knowing that the boy had already seen much more of her before.

"Well... I guess I'll sleep on this side than." Naruto said as he hesitantly slipped into the bed.

With her entire body covered by the bag, she couldn't see the blonde entering. So the arm that accidently brushed up against hers, as he came in, was a total surprise which made her flinch away.

"G-Gomen, I couldn't tell where you were exactly and- GOMEN!" The boy adamantly apologized as he too had flinched away, and was now pressing himself to the side of the bag as far away from her as possible. His head was facing away from hers as he lay on his side with a blush.

"Th-there's n-nothing t-t-to a-a-apologize f-for... I-it was n-nothing N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata stated with her own blush as she too faced away from the blonde.

Silence rained down on the two for quite some time. Neither dared to speak, and an awkward feeling between the two wouldn't allow them to fall asleep. Finally though, Naruto broke the tension by saying the first few words in a while. "... Thanks Hinata... for everything. You really are a good friend... well you're my only friend, right? Haha." Naruto joked a little bit as he finished up.

The shy girl felt happy with the praise, but objected to how the boy ended his sentence. "Th-that's not t-true N-Naruto-kun. Y-you have a l-lot of f-friends. A-Anko-sensei, Hokage-sama, Iruka-sen-"

"Well yeah, but they're all older than me. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, but... they still just look at me like a little kid." Naruto justified before a small smile appeared on his face as he continued. "You're different though Hinata. You always look at me differently than the rest of them... probably because we're the same age. It's always fun hanging out with you even if we're doing nothing. It feels like there's a bunch of other things too, but I don't really understand it all that well. If I compare you to everyone else though... I'd say you're my best friend Hinata..."

"Naruto-kun..." The heiress whispered to herself as she looked over her shoulder at the back of the blonde's head. She was speechless as her mind raced with a million thoughts, but one spoke out more than the rest. _"N-Naruto-kun sees me as his best friend..."_

"_Crap did I say something stupid? I can't even hear her breath anymore! Shit, shit, shit! I didn't want to screw this up. I have to fix this!" _Naruto panicked as he turned around to face the lightly tinted red faced girl before trying to repair the damage. "A-ano... I-If it bothers you, y-you don't have to take it seriously. It was a joke. Yeah that's it, a joke! Haha! So just forget what I s-"

"N-No!" Hinata protested as she too turned around to face the boy with the same frightful look that was on his face not too long ago. Her blush went a little darker when she realized how loud she was, and she quickly calmed herself down as she spoke. "I-I d-don't w-w-w-w-want t-to f-f-f-f-forget."

"Wh-why?" Naruto asked flabbergasted.

"W-was it t-true? D-d-do you really th-think of m-me as y-your b-b-best f-friend, because... b-because I..." Hinata started to divulge as her face became crimson and both of her hands came up to cover her face. "b-b-because I-I th-th-think o-of y-y-y-you as m-my b-b-b-best f-f-f-f-f-f-friend t-too N-N-N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto just stared at the bluenette with his mouth agape. After a half a minute of silence, Hinata looked between her fingers to see the strange expression on the blonde's face, that she assumed was negative, and instantly moved her digits so that she could hide behind them once more. _"Oh no! He really was just joking! Why did I say that? He doesn't want me to think of him like that and now he won't want to even be my fr-Eh?... Eep!"_

Her little shout was only a mental one as her voice box didn't seem to work at the moment. Two hands had gently grasped hers to pull them away from her still cherry coloured face so that she could see the serious look, which contained a little hope, on the boy in front of her. "I-is that the truth Hinata? Do you really think of me as your... best friend?"

The heiress could only nod since she didn't trust her voice.

A single droplet began to build up in the demon child's left eye, but he quickly wiped it away on his shoulder as he laughed a little in happiness. "Hehe, this is awesome. We were both thinking the same way."

Hinata's mind began to race as she registered what the boy had said. _"So then that means... he really does see me as his best friend... I'm Naruto-kun's best friend!" _Hinata inferred as she tilted her head down to hide the shy happy smile on her face before she commented. "H-hai, it r-really is... awesome."

With her moon like orbs looking at him through her bangs, Naruto seemed to stop all motions as he stared back at the heiress. The coolness of her hands in his felt soothing while he unconsciously rubbed the back of them with his thumbs. He could smell her scent of lavender and cinnamon as it penetrated his nose, and something else that caused the hairs on his neck to stand up. Faster and louder his heart beat until he could hear it, and his breaths became shallower and shallower. It was as if he was in a trance, completely captivated by the shy girl in front of him.

"_W-why is Naruto-kun looking at me like that? I've never seen him make a face like that before..."_ Hinata thought a little worried. He hadn't said or moved anything except his thumbs for a few minutes now, but she couldn't help the rosy hue darkening on her cheeks as his intense stare locked on her and made her feel as if she was revealed. "N-N-Naruto-kun?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked a little surprised as he snapped out from his zoned off state. A pink blush appeared on his face when he noticed that he still had her hands in his grasps, and how his thumbs seemed to glide over her smooth delicate skin. Flinching away as if he touched hot iron, he quickly turned around, back to the side of the bag so that he could face away from her and hide his whiskers that now had a pink backdrop. "W-we should go to bed already, it's getting late... goodnight Hinata..."

The girl was confused by his actions, but complied anyways as she agreed with his statement. "A-alright... g-goodnight Naruto-kun."

The blonde could hear the girl shuffle around as she did the same thing as him and faced away once more. However it barely registered to him anyways as he grabbed a fist full of his hair and pulled on it a little as he thought of his problem. _"Crap, what the hell was I thinking just a few minutes ago? Why can't I remember!? Argh, and this thing is back up again! Just think of Sakura-chan, think of Sakura-chan and not Hinata's soft white skin, THINK OF SAKURA-CHAN!"_

* * *

[Middle of the night]

After an hour of trying to fall asleep, the heiress was finally starting to enter her own world built by her unconscious mind. She was sitting in a plain room of a very homely house, wearing nothing but a silk white robe as she sat peacefully on the couch sipping some warm tea. Unfortunately it didn't last that long when she heard a sound coming from the distance.

"_The baby is crying again." _The heiress noticed as she got up and followed the noise. It didn't take her long to walk into the child's room where she saw it laying in a cute little crib. "Shhhh, it's ok... okaa-san is here now."

The babies cries instantly quieted down when he heard his mother's voice and saw her face when she walked up to his bed. With gentle hands, Hinata reached down and picked up the bundled up child that only had its face visible. She smiled lovingly at him when both of their pearl like eyes met.

"You must be hungry, you always eat so much." Hinata giggled a little at the end as it offhandedly reminded her of someone. Her free hand soon pulled the robe she was wearing off her shoulders and let it dangle around her elbows so that her bosom would be released for the hungry baby. Guiding his head to her breast, the newly born latched his mouth over his mother's swelling nub so that he could suckle the built up liquid contained inside.

"_He's so cute when he's eating... I still can't believe how much I love him."_ Hinata thought smiling warmly as she watched her child feed from her. However, the child's arms started squirming from inside the confines of the blanket that was wrapped around him, and the bluenette slightly loosened it up for him so that he could stick his arms and head out. "There you go, is that bet-"

Now that it was no longer swaddled, her voice was caught in her throat when she noticed her child's features. _"B-blonde hair... b-blue tinted eyes... b-black thin lines on his cheeks... like whiskers." _Hinata saw as her eyes got wider and wider. "N-N-Naruto-k-Eep!"

"You called for me, koishii?" Naruto asked after hugging the shy girl around the waist from behind. He pecked her on the cheek before he rested his head on her bare shoulder with a loving smile. "Does our baby want a little daddy time, or are you just inviting me for the show?"

"_Our... Our baby? Mine and Naruto-kun's... BABY!?" _Hinata mentally screamed as she looked back and forth between the child and his father with a face redder than all the angry faces of the Hyuuga council if they ever found out.

"Hey you know, maybe after you feed the baby you can let me have a little too." Naruto suggested before his hand reached up to gently squeeze her free breast.

"!!!"

* * *

[Back in Hinata's tent]

"_I HAVE NARUTO-KUN'S BABY!!" _ She screamed in her mind as she woke up from the (debatable) pleasant dream. She would have jumped up but something seemed to be holding her down. _"Why do I feel so heav-...!!!" _That's when she felt something resting on one of her breast, and a hand cupping the other. Looking down, she saw a mop of golden locks on her chest and her hand resting on top of it as if holding it there. _"N-N-Naruto-kun... s-sleeping... on my b-b-b-b-b-b-b-"_

She didn't get to finish her thoughts as she heard mumblings coming from Konoha's most surprising ninja.

"Mhmmmm... ramen..." Naruto dreamed as he lovingly slurped up the noodles in his mind. However, it caused him to unconsciously slurp Hinata's breast, effectively sucking on it as he dampened up the shirt and bandages covering her peak with his saliva.

"EEP!"

"... tasty..." The ramen lover said after the heiress passed out.

* * *

[Inside Hinata's mind, a little earlier]

Lieutenant Hinata was performing her inspection of the ship as she walked towards the command center. There was only a dim light throughout the ship to conserve energy as the majority of the crew was asleep at this time. However, when the doors slid open, an eerie glow of light came from the large monitor at the front of the room. Her eyes had to adjust from the increase in light, temporarily blinding her somewhat, but she could still see the form of a person slaving away behind one of the keyboards.

"Captain?... Is that you?" She guessed, blinking a few times.

The captain's head whipped around like a frightened squirrel when it notices someone sneaking behind it. Her eyes widened when she realised who it was. "O-oh, lieutenant! What are you doing here... at this time... when there wasn't supposed to be anyone in here? Hehe..." The captain enquired a little panicked as she covered the small monitor she was working on.

"I'm doing the weekly inspection today." She answered after her eyes finally corrected themselves. The strange movements and the hesitant voice of her captain didn't go unnoticed, and she turned her eyes, with a raised eyebrow, to the large screen which displayed the ship's dream of breast feeding a baby. "... What are you doing here captain?"

"Uh well, you know, I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come here to watch the show, and pass some time... Want some ice cream?" The captain offered as she pulled out the chick flick delicacy that was already half eaten with the spoon still inside it.

"Captain, you know it isn't appropriate t-" The lieutenant stopped what she was saying when the image of a blonde haired baby appeared on the screen. "Why is there a child in the ships dreams that looks so much like the enemy?"

Just then, the image of Naruto popped in. "Hehe, um funny thing... it's because it's his child... well our child."

"This is illogical... why is the ship having a dream about the spawn of our enemy? I thought we put up measures to stop such things two weeks ago when she had those fantasies of children."

"W-well actually... we never got around to putting those in... or even finishing them in the first place. Also, I kind of maybe possibly edited the dream a little." The captain admitted before dream Naruto cupped the ship's free breast. "Ok... maybe a lot."

Just than the floor shook as if it was hit by an earthquake, and all the lights turned on.

"The ship has activated." The lieutenant stated a little surprised, but barely showed it as she kept her demeanour. Her eyes then shifted to an icy cold glare as she looked back at the other girl. "As captain of this ship, how could you justify such inexcusable actions?"

"Have you seen Naruto-kun? How could I not do these things when he just presents himself in front of us... all hot and defenceless!?" The captain posed when she pointed back at the screen which now showed the real Naruto resting his head on Hinata's bust.

The lieutenant's eyes widened when she saw the yellow spikes and the ships hand entangled between them. "This is unacceptable! You have allowed your emotions to influence your mind to much captain. As lieutenant, I deem you unfit to command the ship, and will be relieving you of your post effective immediately." She ordered before turning around and making her way out the room.

That is until the captain ran up and caught her from behind. "I can't let you do that lieutenant." The captain said as she cupped her hostage's breasts from underneath the shirt and then turned her back around to look at the monitor. "Are you just going to stand there and tell me you feel nothing for Naruto-kun?"

"You don't know what you're saying captain, you've been infected with the doki-doki virus." Lieutenant Hinata reasoned, even though her cheeks held a slight tint of pink while her eyes were closed to not see the embarrassing screen in front of her.

"Hey, I didn't say you could close your eyes. Look at Naruto-kun. That's an order." The captain commanded before squeezing the girl's chest, making the victim's eyes open up in surprise. Her hands continued to massage the supple mounds as she now whispered in the girl's ear. "Don't you like Naruto-kun? I've seen the way you glance at him every time he comes up on the sensors. Don't you wish to see him more often and maybe a little more... revealed?"

"Wh-why would I want to see Naruto-k-... the enemy's hard chest more often?"

The captain only smirked when she felt the lieutenant's nipples stiffen. "Oh I don't know, but I'm sure you could come up with a perfectly logical reason." She mocked before pinching the hardened flesh.

"Aaaah! N-N-Naruto-kuuuunmhmmm." Chibi Hinata moaned as her legs became weak. Luckily, her body was supported by the person behind her.

Just then, the speakers started working as they heard mumblings coming from said boy in the outside world. "Mhmmmm... ramen..."

Both chibi Hinata's blushed furiously as they watched the scene... until the ship blacked out causing all the lights to do the same after hearing the "Eep!"

The lieutenant couldn't take it either, as she followed the ships example, and the captain was about to join her after a final thought went through her mind. _"That sexy bastard... maybe we're the defenceless ones..."_

"... tasty..."

* * *

[Almost morning]

In less than an hour, the sun would soon rise from the horizon. All throughout the night, two preteens had shifted in their sleep until they found a comfortable position... facing one another... in each other's arms. Both were sleeping on their sides, with Naruto's arm laid out for Hinata's head to rest on, while the other arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly to him. The Heiress wasn't all innocent either as she had one leg between the village outcast's thighs, and both hands lightly grasping the fabric of his shirt as her chest pressed up against him.

However a small look of irritation was on the shy girl's face... until it was remedied by her snuggling even closer to the boy around the base of his neck. A sigh of warm air left her lips and grazed against Naruto's skin, causing a delighted shiver to run up his spine. It seemed to be enough to slowly wake the boy up from his unconscious state.

"_Mhmrrr... Is nee-chan in my bed again?" _Naruto presumed when he felt a source of warmth close to him. Blue eyes fluttered open and quickly processed the light entering it. _"This isn't my room..."_

As he looked around, he noticed he was in a sleeping bag and a tent that he didn't recognize, but what really made him curious was a large indigo coloured object under his neck. _"Nee-chan's hair isn't blue... nee-chan isn't this small... nee-chan isn't even here..." _His eyes widened in realization. _"THIS IS HINATA!"_

Quickly he tried moving back, but Hinata's hands reflexively held on to him tighter, not willing to let him go. _"Crap crap crap! Why the hell am I holding on to Hinata! Argh, I blame nee-chan for this! I'm probably used to it now or something."_

Once again Hinata had to nestle closer, due to Naruto's slight shift, causing her thigh that was already between his legs to press up against him. That's when he noticed his first case of morning wood. _"What the hell!? I just woke up, why is it like this!?" _Naruto thought with a blush as he looked frantically around for an escape. _"I-I can't let Hinata wake up and catch me like th-"_

"Hmm... Naruto-kun..." Hinata blissfully whispered as she slowly woke up. That is until her mind started functioning normally and she took in her surroundings. _"Wait... Naruto-kun... shouldn't be... next to m-..._ !!!"

The two teens instantly separated to the opposite ends of the bag as they took up the same positions they did before they slept.

"G-gomen!"  
"G-g-g-gomen!" They both apologized with similar mortified expressions... one obviously stuttering more than the other.

"I didn't mean to-"  
"I-I w-w-wasn't-"

"Um..."  
"A-ano..."

"Oh, so you're both awake." Kakashi intruded with his head peeking through the opening of the tent while giving his unique smile. "Well that saves me some time. Good morning."

"Wh-what are you doing here Kakashi-sensei!?" Naruto tried to shout but kept it as a whisper to not alert anyone else.

"I came to get you Naruto. I thought it would be a good idea for you to get some fresh air, you know... before everyone else wakes up." The silver haired man casually answered before retreating back outside. "Unless the both of you want to sleep in a little longer, I don't care either way. See you later."

Identical blushes adorned their faces at the thought of staying in bed... with each other... awake.

"M-maybe I should get some fresh air."  
"I-I-I'll w-wait f-f-for y-you ou-ou-outside." They both hurriedly said as they got out of the bag and grabbed their things.

* * *

[In the forest, some time later]

The group was now once again walking towards Waterfall country, with the Konoha party up front, while the client and his guards walked a couple meters behind them. Shibuki was able to keep his cool now that he was in the company of so many shinobi.

*Snap!!!*

"AAH! Don't hurt me!"

... except whenever a loud sound from the forest startled him.

"Oh would you cut it out already yah big baby!? It'll take us twice as long to get there if you keep getting scared by every little thing!" Kiba shouted over his shoulder as a vein bulged at his temple.

"Hey, you don't have the right to talk to Shibuki-sensei like that!" The green haired teen angrily defended.

Shibuki quickly stood straight and unwrinkled his shirt as he composed himself. "Now, now Fuu, I was just testing the capabilities of the other ninja here to see how skilled they are."

Kiba's eye twitched as he heard the lame excuse. _"I've already got a lot on my mind as it is, and I don't need an annoying distraction like this asshole."_

The source of his major irritation at the moment was on the other side of Kakashi, where Naruto and Hinata were walking with a noticeable gap between them and slightly flushed cheeks. For some reason the dog owner could smell a stronger scent of Hinata off of Naruto and vice versa. _"I've practically been watching Hinata the whole time, and they didn't smell like this when we went to camp. I know that idiot didn't lay his hands on my girl... is it just because he's always trying to stand close to her?"_

Noticing the infuriated state the Inuzuka was in; Kakashi stuck out his arm to stop the boy from crossing over to his other side. "Don't break formation now Kiba. I need to stay in the middle. You know... in case anything happens. It's easier to watch over you all like this." The erotic novel lover said while still reading his book seemingly without a care in the world. "Also, it's not good to yell at the client."

"I don't care! I'll yell at that scaredy c-"

"Mah, mah, I wonder how Kurenai will think when she finds out how you represented Konoha to such an important client?" Kakashi enquired as he glanced at the child with a raised eyebrow and a knowing look.

"_Shit, anything but that bitch!" _Kiba thought as he instantly started to sweat from the hidden threat. "Hehe, yell? Who's yelling? There's no reason to yell... heheh."

"Good." Kakashi happily said with his signature U shaped eye smile.

"Important client? What's so important about that guy Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. It was the first thing he said since he left the tent that morning.

"Weren't you listening yesterday? He's the leader of the shinobi village in Taki, baka." Kiba insulted in a low voice so the group behind him wouldn't hear. _"No point for that asshole behind us to start getting a big head."_

"Well yeah I know that, but he doesn't look all that much." Naruto elaborated in the same volume. _"Wait, why the hell am I whispering too?"_

"Whether he looks like it or not, he is the current leader." Kakashi informed his curious student. "Konoha and Taki are in an alliance, so we have to stay on his good side."

"Well if the shinobi there are anything like him, why do we need an alliance? Isn't Konoha way stronger than them?" Naruto questioned with a dumbfounded look on his face until a light turned on in his head. "Oh wait I know, we have an alliance with them because they're weak, so we have to protect them."

"Yes and no Naruto." Kakashi said, sending the blonde back to that uncomprehending look, before he went into a rare state of teacher mode. "It's true that they have an alliance with us because they're not as big as one of the five great shinobi nations, but we don't have an alliance with them because we want to protect them. We have an alliance with them because we want to protect ourselves."

"Eh?"

"Out of the five major villages, the two strongest are Iwa and Kumo. Kiri and Konoha are in the middle while Suna is the weakest. Since they have the most military strength, the Stone and Cloud are able to defend themselves easily from any attacker. The Mist on the other hand may not have enough strength to attack either of them, but it would still be suicide to try and attack the Mist on home ground when their surrounded by their element. Unfortunately the Leaf and Sand don't have such an advantage, that's why they formed an alliance with each other, and with the countries bordering them, so that they would have enough power combined to defend themselves from any of the other villages."

"But I thought Konoha was the strongest village... I think Iruka-sensei said something about us beating the hidden Stone village or something." Naruto tried to remember as he wracked his brain for the entire lesson.

"Yes that's true. We did defeat Iwa in the third great shinobi war." Kakashi educated, and then closed his book as he took on a more serious look. "However... we suffered many losses, but we were still equal in strength compared to Iwa afterwards."

"Then why are we weaker than them now?"

"The Kyuubi..." Kakashi stated flatly, causing Naruto to unconsciously place a hand on his stomach as his skin turned a little pale. "It attacked Konoha a little over 12 years ago after we just defeated Iwa. We were caught by surprise, and many of our skilled shinobi lost their lives that day."

The cyclopean man closed his lone eye as he remembered his sensei, and opened it back up before he went on with his tale. "It may not have been the direct cause of Konoha's state today, but the day of its attack did mark the start of Konoha's greatest depression."

He let out a sigh as he prepared what he was going to say next. "Konoha used to be the wealthiest and strongest village in the continent, but during the sixty years that it has been around, we have gone through three great wars, and many small battles with lesser countries. That's at least one major war for every twenty years. After the first war we were at our strongest, but the two that followed made us start to feel the effects as it cut our power in half."

"But we we're still as strong as Iwa, right?" Naruto said, showing that he was paying attention from the start.

"That's right, but when we were attacked by the Kyuubi, a lot of the village's money went towards rebuilding Konoha. Also because people lost so many loved ones after the attack and the war, they left the village... many of them being some of our strongest Shinobi." Kakashi said as he reminded himself of Jiraiya. "What followed afterwards almost devastated the village. Many clans left, taking their own wealth with them, and settled within other parts of fire country with the daimyo's permission. Other clans suffered... losses, which was a big blow to the strength of the village."

The experienced jounin noticed the quick glare from the Uchiha as he felt the small pang of killing intent coming off the boy, but it didn't stop him from talking. "With the village practically bankrupt, it took us almost 5 years to become fully stable after that day."

"How did we do that? Did the Fire lord give us the money?" Naruto asked.

"He gave us some, but not enough. It was the same amount as the majority of the other daimyo's gave to their villages, but the problem is, Konoha has twice the population of any other village so there isn't enough to cover us all. Plus because of our low amount of skilled ninja, we can't take enough of the high paying missions we want to fund the village properly."

"So then how?"

"We got... donations..." Kakashi answered as he rubbed his temple. "... from certain individuals."

"Individuals? Who are they?"

"You might know them as the civilian council."

"Those assholes?" Kiba interjected a little shocked and angry. "My mom is always complaining about those pricks."

"Yes, well, they're the ones that bailed out the village... for a price."

"What did they get?"

"The creation of the civilian council itself."

"What do you mean? Wasn't there always a civilian council?" Kiba questioned, completely confused.

"Idiot..." Sasuke chastised in his regular brooding voice. "What place do civilians have in a village of shinobi?"

"About as much as my foot up your ass if you don't shut up!" Kiba shot back, glaring at the rookie of the year who wasn't even registering it as a threat.

"Hey, hey, calm down now." Kakashi tried to diffuse, as he brought up both palms flat and gestured them to stop. "What Sasuke said is somewhat true, before there wasn't a civilian council, just a jounin council. The old system was just the Hokage, the heads of major clans within the village, and one representative for the rest of the jounin. The main purpose of this group was to discuss and give rulings on certain issues that affected the village. If it was something the council couldn't decide on, or something too important, they would let every jounin within the village vote on what should be done."

"So how is it done now with the civilian council?" Naruto asked, actually interested in a lesson for once.

"The same way as before, except with civilians now taking up 2/5ths of the council. Most of them are business men, but there are some wealthy shinobi in there too that aren't considered being a part of a major clan, and because of their... contributions, they now hold the same amount of power as any other major clan, other than the five founding clans of course."

"Wait, so you're saying they have as much power as my family? That's just a load of bull!" The Inuzuka shouted in outrage, with a bark from Akamaru backing him up.

"Well don't worry. They don't hold a majority so they can't really do that much, and even if they did, Hokage-sama has the final say."

"_Does jiji really hold that much power?" _Naruto thought, as the other genin had similar disbeliefs.

"You all just doubted Hokage-sama didn't you?" Kakashi quizzed, causing them all to flinch. "Well enough talk for now. I want to know what happens next in my book."

"_So when I become Hokage I have to deal with things like that huh... Well it doesn't even matter if I can't deal with the problems I have now..."_ Naruto thought as he looked at the shy girl that still wouldn't turn her head towards him. _"She hasn't said anything after we left the tent. I really screwed up didn't I..."_

Even though there was an air of awkwardness between them, they were at least walking beside each other four feet apart, never willing to be separated more than that. The heiress however still couldn't stop the crimson blush that seemed to take up residence on her cheeks. _"My leg was touching Naruto-kun's hard p-p-p-p-"_

* * *

[Mid afternoon]

After running for most of the day, the group could actually hear the sound of a waterfall.

"The waterfall is along that cliff up there; we shouldn't be too far from it." Fuu pointed out as the top of the natural barrier could now be seen through the canopy. "Then you guys can finally leave us."

"Actually, it probably would be a good idea for us to stick around." Kakashi recommended, still reading the red covered book. "You know, to investigate these rumours that have been going around."

"Rumours?" Shibuki curiously asked.

"It may be nothing, but there have been indications that some missing-nins have plans for your village."

"Rumours like that are always going around. We're between two major countries so we're targeted a lot." Furukawa, the other guard, said as he looked at Kakashi sceptically.

"Come to think of it, didn't the last leader of your village have to fight off men like that?" Kakashi enquired as he looked over his shoulder towards Shibuki.

The man just lowered his head when he was reminded of his father, but eventually gave a nod to confirm Kakashi's statement. Fuu seemed to get closer to him, but couldn't comfort her sensei in fear of doing the wrong thing.

As they got closer to the cliff, the forest became thinner and thinner until they reached a small lake with the tallest waterfall they had ever seen pouring into it.

"Wooow... That's the biggest waterfall I've ever seen." Naruto gaped as he slowly tilted his head up, trying to see where it all started from.

"It's beautiful..." Hinata whispered in awe, her stutter gone as she forgot her problems at that moment.

It didn't go unnoticed by the blonde, who was standing next to her, as a smile appeared on his face and hope filled his eyes. _"She talked! Maybe she'll start talking to me again!"_

"Yes it really is impressive." Kakashi said in a relaxed tone, having seen the body of water before.

"Yeah... but it really makes you want to go pee." Kiba complained as he grabbed himself between the legs to try and hold back the fluids. The majority of the party looked at him with a raised eyebrow at that comment. "What... it's true!"

Shibuki at this point stomped over to the front of the group as he snapped at the Konoha-nin. "Alright you got us here! You mission is over! So go do you business in the woods, and then leave!"

"What!?" Naruto protested as he looked at the client a little angrily.

"You heard me. There's nothing keeping you here, so go away."

"We just dragged your ass all the way over here and you're just gonna send us packing even though it's almost night time!?"

"Alright, we'll leave." Kakashi complied in a monotone voice. He then turned around and gestured for his team to follow.

Naruto didn't believe what he was hearing from his teacher. He turned around and tried to reason with him. "But Kakashi-sensei, we-"

"Don't you get it dobe?" Sasuke said as he started following the jounin. "The secret entrance to their village must be close by... They don't want us to see it."

What the Uchiha said completely confused Kiba, so he decided to interject before Naruto could speak. "Wait, aren't both our villages' allies? Kakashi said-"

"Yeah, so what!? What if one day we aren't allies anymore? What's to stop you from betraying us?" Shibuki countered as he crossed his arms.

"Why you..." Kiba growled, only to be interrupted by his dog barking. "Not now Akamaru, can't you see I'm busy?"

As the Inuzuka ignored his dog, two other noses twitched soon after.

"_Huh... why do I smell someone different?" _Naruto thought as he stared at the waterfall.

"Everyone, guard the client!" Kakashi commanded as he ran back up to the front of the group, faster than they could see. The silver haired man looked over his shoulder to the client's guards. "You two, stay with me!"

The two from Taki hesitated, but when they saw a squad of shinobi jumping out of the waterfall, they quickly moved. "... Hai!"

"Shit they noticed us. Let's end this quick!" The apparent leader, with dark grey hair and a green rectangular tattoo across his nose, ordered as he grabbed a hand full of kunai like the rest of his party, and sent a hail of metal towards the three ninja.

Without even thinking, Fuu ran up front towards the attackers and onto the water. Her hands quickly ran through some seals before she lifted up her right foot behind her as if she was going to kick a ball. **"Fuuton: Kiatsu Kai - Ashi!" (Wind Style: Foot - Air Pressure Release!)**

Kakashi had to close his eye from the large force of wind that seemed to expel from behind Fuu's heel. All he could hear was her foot making contact with the water, but it went by in an instant. He was only blinded for a second, but when he opened up his eye again, the sight of a giant wave took up almost his entire view.

The three story tall wave was strong enough to block and engross the weapons. When the enemies landed on the lake, they couldn't do anything as it started crashing towards them, except for the leader that is.

"**Suiton: Mizu Heki!" (Water Wall) **The leader shouted as water rose up like a reverse waterfall to shield them from the oncoming attack. It seemed to be effective as it stopped the wave, but what he didn't account for were their kunai that passed right through because of the force of the crash.

Since they weren't properly aimed, the kunai practically just pelted them, giving them shallow cuts or bruises. Only two of the goons were actually stabbed by the weapons, and it only hit the arm or leg. _"Damn that bitch, I didn't think about the kunai." _ The man scowled as he looked at the green haired girl.

"I'll take care of their leader. Fuu and Kakashi-san, take care of the rest of them." Furukawa ordered as he took on a more authoritative role.

* * *

[Back with the genin and the client]

At the sight of enemy shinobi coming out, almost everyone froze up at the thought of having to fight. They were only broken out of their stupor when Fuu made her first move.

"Holy crap! Did you see that? How was she able to do that? She's really amazing!" Naruto praised, astonished by the flashy performance not too far away from him.

"Of course she is, I trained her remember?" Shibuki gloated even though he was cowering behind the blonde's back.

"Then as her teacher, shouldn't you be the one taking care of the enemy and not your student?" Sasuke coldly posed as he looked at the man with judging eyes.

"Hey I would, but you see... I'm the client remember? I have to be protected... yeah that's right protected, so that-umph!" He wasn't able to finish his sentence as a whip made out of water wrapped around his arms and torso, and swiftly yanked him back into the depths of the forest. "AAAAAHHH!"

"Shit." Sasuke cursed under his breath as he ran after the client. _"I'm not going to allow myself to have a failed mission."_

"Wait, Sasuke! Shouldn't we get sensei and..." Naruto called out, but when he looked back to see Kakashi's group fighting what seemed like an extra squad, he gave up that solution and chased after the boy. "Damn it. I'm not going to let you do this yourself while I do nothing!"

"N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata said in a somewhat frightened voice as the boy raced off into danger. She paused to look for a jounin to help, but seeing the same thing Naruto saw, she chased after the boy. However, she was caught in her tracks by a hand clutching her wrist.

"W-w-wait Hinata, you j-just can't go i-in th-there! There's another n-n-n-ninja there!" Kiba pleaded in a terrified voice. His legs were trembling, and his pupils were dilated in fear. _"I-I don't want to be left alone!"_

"I-I have too. Th-they're fighting i-in th-there. Let go of me!" Hinata shouted at the end as she ripped her arm from his grasp. Only one thought went through her mind as she ran into the forest with her doujutsu activated. _"I have to help Naruto-kun!"_

With no one else around, other than Akamaru, Kiba was left alone. Frantically he looked back and forth between the tree line, and the battle on the lake. After a couple of minutes, he couldn't take the strain on his mind any longer, and decided to join the other genin. _"Fuck! Why do I have to get in messes like this?"_

* * *

[Deep in the forest]

"There, are you comfortable?" The man mockingly asked as he tightened up some metal wire that he was using to bind Shibuki to the trunk of a tree. The client could only mumble in fear as his forehead protector was lowered to cover his mouth. "Heh, I can't believe Murasame is having trouble with a couple of ninja. Well he's making a decent distraction now that I sent those pieces of fodder that woman gave me to help him. Good thing I didn't need them, taking you from those weak little genin was too easy... speaking of which."

Just then, the sound of footsteps stopped, and a haughty voice spoke out. "Hn, I know you're here. Come out." Sasuke wasn't bluffing as he noticed the wire wrapped around a tree a few meters away. _"This guy waited for a time when we were distracted, and attacked from a distance in the dark. He ran in the forest because he knew it would be full of shadows now that the sun is so close to the horizon. If I want to defeat him, I have to at least get him into the light."_

"Heh, so you think a little genin like you can take me on? Well you're brave, I'll give you that... or maybe you're just stupid." Kirisame, a man showing as much facial features as Kakashi, ridiculed through his mouth mask as he stepped out from behind the tree.

As soon as he came into view, Sasuke instantly sent a kunai flying his way at an impressive speed. However, instead of making contact, it just went right through the man. _"That's not possible! Is this a genjutsu? No... I just saw him; he hasn't had the time to place a genjutsu on me. So that makes this a nin-"_

"**Oboro bunshin no jutsu." (Haze Clone Jutsu) **The man said giving a smirk as copies of him started forming out of thin air. "You looked a little confused so I thought I'd clear things up. How do you like i-"

"Oi Teme! Why did you run off by yourself!?" Naruto interrupted as he came up behind the Uchiha. His nose twitched, and he instantly brought up a hand to pinch it closed. "Aw man, what's up with this place? It stinks!"

"_Hehe, I knew one of those kids had a dog in their group, but this one seems to be sensitive too. Good thing I prepared this place beforehand." _The abductor thought as he looked at the new arrival.

"Dobe shut up. Can't you see I'm busy?" Sasuke posed in his cool demeanour, but the way his eyes were frantically racing from side to side said otherwise.

"Eh?" Naruto intelligently replied and then noticed for the first time the amount of enemies surrounding them. "Holy crap, when did they get here!?"

"Hehe, that runt is your back up!?" Kirisame laughed as he pointed at the blonde. "There's no way that little shrimp is a ninja."

"Shut up..." Naruto said menacingly as he glared at the man. His fist started to tighten up as the man laughed louder and louder, until he couldn't take it anymore. "I said shut up!"

The boy went charging at the man with his fist cocked back, ready to punch. His anger blinding him, he punched at the man's chest with all his weight behind him, and hit... nothing. With no resistance pushing against him, the hand went right through the image, along with the genin that followed it as he started to lose balance.

That's when, from the corner of his eye, he saw a kunai coming towards him. His hand shot out to grab a tree, stopping his decent as if he were frozen in place while the blade zipped by a few inches from his nose. _"I-I almost died."_

"Idiot, get back!" Sasuke warned as he nonchalantly pulled back on the blonde's collar, forcing him to the ground. This time a hand full of kunai had passed by from the opposite direction and imbedded themselves in the tree Naruto was standing beside just a second ago.

"_That first kunai was used to set off a trap... He must have figured that carrying a body would slow him down to much, so he set this area up in advance. We're probably surrounded by traps, and they're all facing towards here." _Sasuke deduced as he tried looking around for the hidden contraptions. _"There's no way we can get to them and disarm them from in here... Cheh, if only the dobe was outside, he could have disarmed them while I distracted the enemy."_

Naruto at this point was staring, wide eyed, at the now porcupine like tree from his place on the ground. He could feel the fear running up his back, telling him to run and hide. However, when his right hand came down to push himself back up, he saw the bandages that Hinata had put on him. Images started racing through his head, but none more than the Kyuubi and her red eyes.

"_That's right... this is nothing compared to then." _Naruto remembered as his nerves calmed down. He was now standing up straight, and slowly brought both hands up into a cross shaped seal. _"I shouldn't be afraid... there's always something I can do! If all these are fakes, then I'll just have to run through them all until I find the real one."_

"**Kage bunshin no jutsu!" **A dozen copies of the orange clad ninja appeared, all waiting for their signal. "Let's get him!"

"_How does a genin know a jutsu like that?" _Kirisame wondered as he saw the small group barrel through his copies. Although it didn't stop the small smirk that appeared on his face as he readied his kunai. _"Well it doesn't matter. He won't be able to find me, so I'll just take care of them and waste his chakra."_

One by one, the sound of bunshin popping could be heard, but Naruto continued making replacements.

"_Now's my chance... while Naruto is distracting him, I can run out of this place and destroy the traps." _Sasuke thought as he ran in the opposite direction from where most of the clones were. Unfortunately it was a mistake. The many shadows of the forest concealed a wire on the ground, and he hadn't noticed the danger until he tripped it. His eyes looked down fast to see an exploding note. _"Shit."_

Quickly his hands came together as the paper started to fizzle.

*KABOOM!* The bomb exploded, and as soon as the dust settled, the scene of a chard log could be seen where the Uchiha once stood.

"_That was too close. He even placed traps to keep us out if we tried to run. Probably so we don't try to get help." _Sasuke thought with a noticeable sweat on his brow. The spot he had replaced himself from emanated heat from the small fires it caused, and that's when he became aware of something. _"If only we could find the real one, but all these copies are-..."_

He observed as the enemy's clones near the flames started to waver, or parts of them completely disappeared. _"They can't hold their form in the heat. They're probably made up of the air itself, that's why they can stay up even though a regular bunshin would get disrupted from just touching it." _The rookie of the year realized, and then looked towards his one ally. "Naruto, cover me!"

The blonde's head whipped around at the sound of his name, and the sight of the proud Uchiha running through some hand-seals met his eyes. **"Katon: Gyoukakyuu no jutsu!" **Flames streamed from the boy's mouth, and attached themselves to a large tree to fuel them. Expelling his chakra, the fire wouldn't stop coming from his mouth as he concentrated on making it as hot as possible.

"_What the hell is that little twerp trying to pull? Oh well, he's wide open." _Grabbing a couple of kunai, the man sent them flying to the unguarded child, or at least so he thought until the boy was shielded by a group of orange genin. "Shit..."

"_How did those ones come from below?" _Naruto wondered after he parried the flying weapons. Forgetting that thought for now, he looked back to Sasuke who was finishing up his jutsu. "Why the hell are you burning a tree for?"

The flames stopped, and Sasuke grabbed his knees as he panted, trying to catch his breath. "Just... *pant*... shut up... *pant*... and look for... *cough*... the enemy... *pant*... dobe."

Even when the Uchiha was tired he still had the strength to mock Naruto, but he listened to him none the less. _"Note... pull stick... out of his ass. Now, where the hell is this asshole?" _As he looked around through the bunshin, it became apparent to him the state the clones were in. _"There's no more copies close to us for a couple of meters, and the rest look all messed up. Why are they all bending towards us?"_

That's when he felt a cool breeze pass by him and up towards the burning tree. _"No... they're all bending towards the fire. So this is why Sasuke did it..." _Naruto reasoned as he took in the smell of burning wood._ "It's even getting rid of that nasty smell from before."_

"_Cheh, that brat figured out the weakness to my jutsu. Hehe, at least he's tired now, and even if they can tell which clones are fakes, they'll still never find me." _The man mentally jeered from his place underground. Ever since he had created his bunshin, he used a jutsu to move underneath the earth itself, and only peeked out within the concealment of the shadows to assess the situation or attack.

Even with such a large source of light now illuminating the forest, it still created large pools of darkness, darkness attached to the genin themselves. _"I think I'll start with mister winded here." _Kirisame smirked as his kunai equipped hand came out of the ground within Sasuke's shadow. _"Die!"_

"Sasuke, watch out!" The Uchiha didn't even have time to respond before Naruto tackled him out of the way of the weapon flying by.

"_Fuck... how did that kid know I was going to attack?" _The assaulter was irate with the mystery until he remembered how the boy reacted when he first came into the battle field. _"He smelled me... that stupid fire got rid of the skunk smell I put around the place. He might not be able get a whiff of me underground, but every time I want to attack, he'll know in advance."_

With only one option left, the man sprung out of the ground with some distance between himself and the two boys. "Cheh... I can't believe two brats are making me fight in the open. I thought I'd be nice and kill you in an instant when you weren't looking, but now... now you're going to feel some pain."

"You're the one that's gonna feel some pain ass wipe!" Naruto proclaimed as 4 blondes ran towards the man.

"You don't get it do you..." The man said as he placed his hands in a single seal. **"Mizu no Muchi. (Whip of Water)"**

Before Naruto could get to him, the tendril of water formed in the man's right hand, and he instantly used it to lash at the clones and pop them into smoke. "I was going easy on you before, but now I'll hold nothing back."

"Then I won't either." Naruto said as he replaced the 4 clones. "Try and stop us all!"

Kirisame just sneered before he created another whip for his left hand. "With pleasure." The clones came at him, and he made quick work of half of them until they decided to spread apart. Even then, he was still picking them off, but when he hit flesh on the cheek that didn't pop, he found his mark. "Got you!"

This caused a cut to be formed, and when Naruto composed himself, he was met with the same whip coming towards his waist and wrapping around him. Franticly, he grabbed a kunai and tried to cut the water, but it only resisted.

"It's pointless. This whip can't be cut by ordinary weapons or strength." The man gloated as he tightened his hold. However he was soon distracted by the other clones attacking him from behind. With one arm occupied, he knew he wouldn't be able to fend off the attack, so he opted to protect himself, but at least damage his hostage. Using both arms, he flung Naruto into the oncoming attack, unravelling him from his binds as he did.

The bunshin safely caught their creator, but many of them were dispelled from the impact. A laugh could then be heard coming from the former captive. "Haha, what was that about it being pointless?" A confident smile appeared on the boys face as he placed his hands in his favourite seal. "If I couldn't get to you with that many, then I'll just have to triple it."

"**Kage bunshin no jutsu!" **Naruto shouted as three dozen blondes appeared.

"_Where the hell is this kid getting all this chakra? I've been popping them one after another, and he makes more as if it was nothing. I can't let this go on for much longer. I have to look for a way to escape or end th-..." _That's when his eyes fell upon the Uchiha, and a grin emerged from his face. _"_Perfect..."

With the flick of a wrist, the whip snared the boy, and then roughly yanked him in one pull to the feet of his kidnapper. "I wouldn't be so quick to attack, or your friend here might die." Kirisame said as he dispelled the other whip. As soon as his free hand grasped the tendril of water, electricity ran though it and shocked the boy in its grasp.

"Stop!" Naruto pleaded as he heard Sasuke trying to hold back the screams of pain and failing.

"Then get rid of your little buddies here."

Naruto just glared at the man, but brought up his hands as he begrudgingly complied. "Fine..." The clones popped away into nothing, and only one blonde could be seen left standing. "Now let him go."

"_Idiot, now we're both going to d-" _Sasuke stopped his train of thought when he noticed something in the forest a few meters behind his captor.

"Baka! Who would believe the word of their enemy!?" Kirisame laughed as a whip reformed in his free hand again and quickly lashed at the boy's other cheek, knocking him to the ground from the force. "Haha, now you'll pay f-"

*Puff*

"_A bunshin? But when did he- what!?"_ His thought process was disturbed by the feeling of something wrapping around his shins. He looked down and saw Sasuke's legs locking him in place like a crab's claw. "You little shit, let me go!"

"Naruto now!" Sasuke shouted.

"I know teme!" The village prankster retorted, running up from behind the attacker.

Kirisame only had enough time to turn his head over his shoulder, and find a blonde haired genin jumping towards him with a readied fist. "Eh!-Umph!"

A crack could be heard when Naruto's knuckles landed on the man's cheek and was sent flying a couple of feet because of bad footing before tumbling to the ground. The whip that held Sasuke dissolved into nothing as the concentration to the jutsu was lost.

"Hn, not bad..." Sasuke somewhat praised as he got back up on his feet.

A small smile appeared on Naruto's face from being acknowledged.

"For a dobe that is."

... and it was gone, just like that.

"Oh and I'm sure all your fan girls would have loved to see you tied up and defenceless like that." Naruto shot back, causing the Uchiha to glare at him a little from the corner of his eye.

"You two little fucking shits!" Kirisame shouted after getting back up. He lowered his mask and spat on the ground showing that there was blood in it. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"

The two genin just looked at each other and nodded before running through some hand-seals.

"**Katon: Housenka no jutsu!" (Mythical Phoenix Fire jutsu)  
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"**

Clones and fireballs raced after the man, but he didn't move from his spot and stood his ground.

"**Tajuu Mizu no Muchi!" (Multi Whip of Water)**

Five whips of water formed on each hand, one connected to every digit, and with a swing of his arms, he was able to quench or disrupt all jutsu flying at him. An evil grin came on the man's face from his triumph as dark clouds started to fill the sky. "Now you're mine!"

They couldn't stop the whips, and in an instant they became securely entangled on all limbs and even around the neck. With a hard pull, he toppled the genin to the ground, and gave out a laugh. "Enjoy the afterlife." He then slapped his hands together, and an electric current started running through the water.

"No!" A feminine voice interjected and was soon followed by a shadowy figure running between the man and his captives. As it did, the tendrils were cut one after another and dropped lifelessly to the ground.

"What the... how the hell was my jutsu cut?" Kirisame asked in shock as the water slipped from his fingers, and then looked towards his opponents when he heard a sound coming from there.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you o-ok!?" Hinata asked in a panic as she ran up to the boy.

"Uh... Hinata?" The blonde groaned as he lifted up his head to see if it was true. He had been slightly electrocuted along with Sasuke, but it luckily didn't last for very long. Hinata let out a sigh of relief when she heard him respond.

"You little bitch! Never interrupt me!" Kirisame shouted in a rage as he formed the whips on his hands again, and this time sent them towards the Hyuuga. He couldn't tell it was one because her back was towards him, but he still caught her like he did the boys before. "I don't know how you cut my whips, but I'm not letting you do that again!"

"Hinata!" Naruto frightfully shouted as his eyes widened. _"Anything but Hinata!"_

"Hooo... now that's a reaction you haven't shown me. This one must be more important to you... let me guess, is she your girlfriend?" Kirisame taunted as a foul grin surfaced. Even though his body was still in pain, Naruto got up, and tried to reach Hinata until the man chocked her slightly. "Now now, don't even think of trying anything, or I'll kill her right now."

"Let her go..." Naruto threatened as his fists tightened up so hard his knuckles turned white. His focus only left the man so that he could check on the girl, but when he did, he saw her pleading for him to stop with her eyes, while her hand grasped one of the tendrils.

"Haha, oh how scary. What? Have you run out of trick-...!!!" Kirisame wasn't able to finish his mocking as he felt a large amount of pain in his gut. His arm started to tremble before the whips in his hand disconnected and turned into simple water. He held back a cough that contained a lot of blood, and it leaked from the side of his mouth before he threw it up on the ground. _"Wh-what the hell just happened... it feels like I was hit on the inside?"_

As soon as Hinata was free, Naruto moved to stand between her and the attacker protectively as she gasped for air.

"_Cheh, these stupid kids just come one after another... I'll have to forget about the target for now." _Kirisame reasoned while Naruto created some clones. He looked around for an escape, and when he saw the clouds over head, he had his answer. **"Suiton: Kuikorosu Ame!" (Devouring Rain)**

Before the jutsu could start, the man grabbed a smoke ball and threw it to the ground. The water in the sky soon condensed and an early down pour hit the forest. It wasn't any normal rain either as it began to eat away at the chakra of the clones Naruto had created until they lost their stability and dispelled. It was also heavy enough to put out the Uchiha's fire, and clear up the gas from the smoke ball. However when it diffused, Kirisame was gone.

Even with the man's scent masked by the rain, the blonde would have chased after him, but he couldn't leave his two allies while they were vulnerable. Pushing back his anger, he turned around and tended to them. "Hey teme are you alright?"

"Something like this... can't stop me." The Uchiha said in a strained voice as he slowly got back up. _"We were going to die... I didn't see Naruto do anything, but the enemy was damaged. What the hell happened?"_

Naruto's expression then turned softer as he addressed the next person. "Hinata... are you ok?" He couldn't even wait for her to answer before he put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him.

"H-Hai, I-I'm fine Naruto-kun. M-My forehead p-protector spread the f-force, so it d-didn't hurt that m-much." Hinata spoke as she touched the piece of metal hanging around her neck. "I-I'm sorry I d-didn't get here s-sooner... A-after the two o-of you w-went in, a lot o-of traps were a-activated and I-I had t-to disarm th-them to get i-inside."

The blonde just fell to his knees, and held on to the bottom of Hinata's jacket as he dropped his head and let out a sigh of relief. "It's fine... I'm just glad you're ok."

Hinata couldn't help the blush on her face from having is hands on her waist. "W-what a-about you N-N-Naruto-kun? Are you h- Naruto-kun, y-your cheek!"

Naruto heard her concerned voice and brought up a hand to touch the damaged area. "Oh this, it's nothing. That jutsu he shocked us with hurt more than this."

"B-but it's b-bleeding, l-let me t-take care o-of it." Hinata pleaded as she bent done to take a closer look at the cut even though her Byakugan was still active.

"Sure." Naruto agreed with a small smile, but was soon interrupted by a pissed off voice.

"Oi baka, get your hands off of Hinata!" Kiba shouted a good distance away as he ran up to the group.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned before he looked back and noticed one hand still clutching Hinata's jacket. "Ah! G-gomen Hinata!"

"I-it's ok N-Naruto-kun." Hinata reassured as she shyly brought up her hand with slightly bent fingers so that she could run her soft nails over her lips to comfort herself from the embarrassment.

Naruto felt at ease until he noticed something. "Wait... why do I have to listen to you Kiba, and where the hell were you all this time?"

"You have to listen to me because she's my teammate, and I tried getting here as fast I could, but I couldn't find you guys until that nasty smell left." Kiba half lied. It's true that when he did decide to go after them and he followed their scents, but was stopped by the awful stench. After he emptied his bladder in a bush, he saw the smoke from the fire Sasuke made, and ran into the area. Luckily it was the same place Hinata had gone through so there were no traps, but he came in around the time the rain started to fall. When he saw two down allies and Naruto still on guard, he was too afraid of getting any closer in fear of an enemy still lurking around, what with the rain rending his nose useless.

A figure then jumped down from the trees and landed in the middle of the group. Everyone jumped back in fear of another attack, but when they saw who it was they relaxed. "So this is where you guys were." Kakashi said with a smile. His hair was a little damp, but still mostly defied gravity.

"Shibuki-sensei! Thank god you're safe!" A female voice said from a distance, which they guessed was Fuu's.

"Looks like you guys did your job. Good work. Now let's get out of this rain before we get sick." Kakashi commended before getting some nods.

* * *

[Inside the Waterfall village]

"What do you mean you couldn't capture Shibuki?" A middle aged man questioned, he had really dark spiky grey hair that was held back by a bandana and went down past his shoulders.

"Yes Suien-sama... *cough*... new arrivals continued to come in and stopped me." Kirisame reported as he coughed up a bit of blood.

"Cheh... get yourself to the medic."

"Hai." The man said before disappearing.

"Well what do you think Hisame?" Suien asked as he looked towards the female strategist with light brown hair and provocative clothing.

"Hmm, having escorts from Konoha with them was unexpected. They were able to take care of Kirisame which wasn't a big surprise, but to overpower Murasame with the extra power shows that they have some skill." The woman thought out loud as she crossed her arms under her chest. "If they send word to Konoha and get backup we could have a problem, but before that they have to assess the situation to justify it. So far all they know is two squads of shinobi with Rain hatai-ate on are in the area. They're allies with both villages, so they wouldn't be so quick to judge."

"So as long as they don't know we're missing-nin they can only use the shinobi present."

"Hai... I think it would be best to move the hostages to another location and let them come in here. Then we can block the only exit leading to fire country and trap them inside."

"That seems like a good plan..." Suien agreed as he rubbed his goatee in thought. He then looked to another woman hiding in the shadows. "Is that ok with you?"

The woman stepped out of the darkness with an evil grin while her forehead protector, which had a music note etched on it, shined in the light. "I like it."

* * *

[Back with the group.]

They had all walked back to the lake and out of the rain, but were now discussing what to do.

"Those damn Ame bastards! They've always wanted to take over our land!" Furukawa snarled as he looked at the waterfall.

"Well we don't know that... remember like I said, there were rumours of rogue ninja in the area, and not all of them had Rain forehead protectors." Kakashi reminded. "Either way though, this mission is too much for my squad. We were just ordered to find you and escort you safely back to your village. This new mission is at least a high B rank, if not low A rank now."

"What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei, the mission isn't over!" Naruto protested as he stood firm.

"Are you an idiot, didn't you hear Kakashi-sensei?" Kiba retorted as he faced the blonde.

"Oh he did. The dobe is right... the client isn't back in his village yet, right sensei?" Sasuke said with a smirk.

"We'll pay you for the rank up in the mission." Furukawa offered. _"It would be best to have the copy-nin helping us if there is more trouble."_

"Mah, I guess you're right." Kakashi said after looking at the resolve in his two students. "We'll help you guys out... with the extra pay of course."

"Really! Thank you!" Fuu happily said and then turned to the man beside her. "Isn't that great Shibuki-sensei?"

"..." Shibuki didn't respond as he kept his focus on Kakashi. It wasn't until he had the man's attention did he speak. "I'll only allow you to come into the village if you promise to keep its entrance a secret..."

"I've already visited the village before so I know where it is, but I'm sure my genin will also keep it a secret, right?" Kakashi said as he turned to look at the children and received nods from all of them. "Perfect. Then I suggest we take a fifteen minute break before we head inside. We're all a little tired from our fights."

"Agreed." Furukawa said, and everyone started spreading out to find a place to recuperate.

When Naruto made to move though, he felt someone tug the back of his shirt. "Huh? What is it Hinata?"

"I-I still h-haven't bandaged y-your cut Naruto-kun." Hinata said in a quiet voice.

"Oh yeah... um, let's go over there." Naruto said, pointing to a large rock near the lake that he could sit on. Hinata nodded and followed the boy.

Taking out a piece of cloth, she dipped it into the lake and wiped it over Naruto's cheek to clean off the blood. _"It's already starting to scab." _Hinata noticed as no extra blood seeped through. She then took out her ointment and spread a bit of it over the cut before she covered it with a large band-aid.

"There, a-all better." She happily said before she kissed Naruto's cheek under the eye. She froze in place when she felt her lips touch flesh, and after what felt like eternity she jumped back and turned around in embarrassment. "Eep!"

Naruto was stunned until he felt her touch leave his face. "H-H-Hinata... did y-you just k-k-k-"

"G-g-gomen, i-it's not wh-wh-what you th-think. M-my m-mother u-u-used to k-kiss me every t-time I h-hurt m-myself, so wh-when you w-w-were h-hurt I k-k-k-k-k-k-Gomen!" Hinata abruptly finished before she ran away from the spot.

His hand came up, and his fingers hovered over the tingly feeling the shy girl had left behind. _"She kissed me like her mother did... so this is how it's like to have a mother?" _Naruto thought as he tried to remember the feeling, but every time he did he was more focused on the fact that it was Hinata that did it, and a blush appeared on his face before he felt a strain in his pants. _"God dammit! Think of Sakura-chan, think of Sakura-chan and not Hinata's soft lips, think of Sakura-chan!"_

* * *

Next chapter: Nowhere Else to Run

Appologies/begging: Sorry, sorry. This chapter was really hard to write, other than the constant distractions of the holidays and Iranian new year, I kept on getting really bad writers block after Naruto and Hinata fell asleep in the bag. Although the hardest part to write was the fight scene... I'd get three sentences in and then stop for an hour or so T.T Please forgive me!

A/N: I Hope you all liked this chapter. I've had to rewrite so many parts and I still feel it's not one of my best chapters, but I still like it. As you can tell, Hinata is slowly coming around, and I hope I put enough fluff in there for the people that got blue-balled last chapter.

I really liked the fact that I finally started a fight scene... my other stories were so far back that I didn't even get close to even the smallest of fights. Oh and if any of you are wondering what happened to Kirisame near the end there, just think of Neji's fight against one of the sound four. If you review, please comment about the fight. I can't tell whether or not it's bad, good, or just basic, and if I should maybe make them brief, rather than something long like this one.

Now to get to the part that might get me flamed. I believe some of you are not going to agree with my assessment of the strength of certain villages, so for you dear readers, here are the stats on said villages according to the second data book. (Which puts it around the time after Sasuke left the village but before Shippuden.)

----------------Population-------Military Strength-------Economic strength

Konoha ------Lvl 5--------------Lvl 3----------------------Lvl 2

Suna----------Lvl 2--------------Lvl 2----------------------Lvl 2

Kiri-------------Lvl 2--------------Lvl 3----------------------Lvl 2

Iwa------------Lvl 4--------------Lvl 4----------------------Lvl 2

Kumo----------Lvl 3--------------Lvl 4----------------------Lvl 5

As you can see, in terms of strength Konoha is not the strongest (and damn, Kumo is fucking rich). Like before with the chakra level thing, I consider each level to be double that of the previous one. So if I were to give them points.

----------------Population-------Military Strength-------Economic strength

Konoha------32-------------------8--------------------------4

Suna-----------4-------------------4--------------------------4

Kiri--------------4-------------------8--------------------------4

Iwa-----------16------------------16--------------------------4

Kumo----------8-------------------16------------------------32

It makes more sense this why when you look all the alliances Konoha has. So, if you consider Konoha having 8 points in military strength + the 4 points of suna's strength = 12 points, the last 4 points that are needed to be on par with Iwa and Kumo, come from Ame, Taki, Kusa, and Oto. I consider these villages to have 1 or 2 points in military strength (Ame probably having 2 or 3 because they have Hanzo... which turns to Pain later on anyways.) So that puts them over the 16 points, but not by a lot.

Now some of you are asking why the hell I'm even mentioning this... well I got a flame saying that I was doing so many cliché things for a Naruto fanfiction story and I didn't really pay it any mind except for the 'civilian council' part. It's true, there's no civilian council in Naruto yet there are many fanfictions that include it, and then I fell upon this data and I'm like "YES! EXCUSE!" So I made up a possible reason as to why there could be one =P

(I had plans for the civilian council, and with what I'm going to do with this, it just makes them even more evil.)

Jutsu

Fuuton: Kiatsu Kai - Ashi! (Wind Style: Foot - Air Pressure Release!):  
Rank: B  
This jutsu creates a high pressure of air to be released from the back of the foot. It can be used to increase the strength of a kick to earth shattering power, but if the user was to hit anything hard like a boulder, they would have to have the leg strength required to kick it and not break their bones. This jutsu can also be used to enhance the user's speed, but gives little control, making it almost impossible to turn, stop where the user wants, or just plain not crash into anything.

Suiton: Mizu Heki! (Water Wall)  
Rank: C  
Just a flat wall of rising water. Can protect the user from many things, but has a weakness against solid objects like earth jutsu.

Suiton: Kuikorosu Ame! (Devouring Rain)  
Rank: B (Difficulty to perform lowers to a C if there are rain clouds in the area)  
This jutsu causes the rain falling from the sky to dissolve all chakra that is outside of a person's body, making it great for dispelling jutsu. However the down side is that the user too can no longer most ninjutsu or genjutsu, leaving them with mainly Taijutsu. Once started this jutsu cannot be stopped until all the water has left the clouds.

All other jutsu you should know, or can use common sense. (Like the multi whip of water one... self explanatory)


End file.
